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SOURCE-BOOK 



OF 



ENGLISH HISTORY 



SOURCE-BOOK 



OF 



ENGLISH HIST,ORY 

LEADING DOCUMENTS 



TOGETHER WITH 



ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL FROM CONTEMPORARY 

IVRITERS 



AND A 



BIBLIOGRAPHY OF SOURCES 



BY 



GUY CARLETON LEE, PH.D. 

OF JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY 




NEW YORK 

HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY 
1900 



46208 

L-ibr&ry of <jc*rt^fC9a 

"^WU Cl>P<€i^ Ktct /ED 

SEP 12 1900 
sicom COPY. 

0«l<wonif to 

OROiH DIVISION, 
■ OCT 9 1900 



y^h2>i^^ 



Copyright, tgoo, 

BY 

HENRY HOLT & CO. 



I dedicate this volume, by his kind permission, to 

XLbc *RiQbt IRevcrcnO 'CClUUam Stubbs 
LORD BISHOP OF OXFORD 

In appreciation of his contributions to 
historical literature 



PREFACE 



In editing this volume I have differed from the plan 
of selection adopted by Bishop Stubbs, in that I have in- 
cluded illustrative material not strictly documentary ; 
and I have departed from the method of Professor Hart 
— from whom I have borrowed the name, source-book — 
in that I have included the great constitutional and legal 
documents which furnish the framework of the history 
of national development. 

Though I have differed in details of editing from these 
learned scholars, to whom students and teachers of his- 
tory are under great obligations, yet I have striven for 
the same result that they have so successfully attained, 
in that their works are not only useful tools for the class- 
room and authoritative reference works for the library 
but are interesting to the general reader. 

The scope of this collection of sources is such as to 
make it available for use with any text-book upon Eng- 
lish History. It extends from the first mention of Britain 
by ancient historians to the last great treaty with the 
Boers of South Africa. Thanks to the liberality of my 
publishers, who have regarded the work from the educa- 
tional rather than the commercial point of view, I have 
been enabled to add to its usefulness by including much 
illustrative material hitherto inaccessible to most stu- 
dents. 

The first part of the volume is devoted to a working 
bibliography of sources. An attempt has been made to 
cite nearly every important collection by title; and, 
where an omission has been found to be necessary, the 
student is furnished with such bibliographical informa- 

"^ . vii 



Vlll 



PREFACE 



tion as will enable him to find material for the epoch 
under consideration. I desire to express my obligations 
in this department to the erudite and invaluable works of 
Professor Charles Gross and of the late Sir Thomas 
Duff us Hardy ; to them the student must always turn for 
bibliographical detail. 

In editing this volume I have in most cases modern- 
ized the spelling, punctuation, and capitalization of the 
excerpts, believing that documents are most useful in 
their most readable form. I have, however, preserved 
the original style when necessary to bring out the full 
effect of the selections. In selecting matter from printed 
texts I have sought to excerpt from the most approved 
editions without reference to date of their publication. 
In choosing from reprints I have preferred the official 
editions. In deciding upon translations I have selected 
and edited those which in my opinion most faithfully 
present the meaning of the best manuscripts. The senti- 
ments expressed in the selections are those of the respect- 
ive authors; I am obliged to disclaim any responsibility 
for them. 

I desire to express my gratitude to authors and pub- 
lishers for the use of much valuable material. I have 
taken pains to acknowledge special obligations by indi- 
cating my sources at the close of each selection. I am 
especially grateful for the many privileges and kind- 
nesses which I have received from Philip R. Uhler, Pro- 
vost of the Peabody Library, and his assistants, all of 
whom have been untiring in their efforts to aid me in my 
work, , 

I shall be under obligations to my fellow-labourers in 
the field of history if they will advise me of any sins of 
omission or commission which they may note. 

G. C. L. 

Historical Department 

Johns Hopkins University 
May, 1900 



CONTENTS 



PART I 

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF SOURCES 
Chapter I — Historians, Catalogues and Collections 

SECTION PAGE 

1. The Historians 3 

2. Catalogues of Sources 5 

3. Great Collections of Materials 9 

Chapter II — Sources Arranged by Epochs 

4. Pre-Norman Period 26 

5. From the Conquest to the Charter ......... 31 

6. From the Charter to the Reformation 34 

7. The Tudor Period 40 

8. The Struggle for Constitutional Government .... 49 

9. The Hanoverian Period 55 

10. Nineteenth Century 61 

PART II 

THE PRE-NORMAN PERIOD 

{circa 425 B.C. to 1066 a.d.) 

Chapter III — The Britain of the Ancients 

11. First Mention of the Islands afterwards called British . 65 

12. First Mention of the Islands by Name 65 

13. Evidence of Increasing Interest in the British Islands . 66 

14. First Roman Invasion of Britain 66 

15. Description of the Britons 68 

16. Characteristics of the Britons 69 

17. The Tin Mines of Britain 70 

18. Phases of the Roman Occupation 72 

19. Consequences of the Withdrawal of the Romans ... 76 

20. The Power of Britain revives 77 

ix 



X CONTENTS 

Chapter IV — The Birth of the English Nation 

SECTION PAGE 

21. The Ancient Germans 79 

22. Coming of Hengist and Horsa 8o 

23. England becomes One Kingdom 82 

24. Reestablishment of Christianity 84 

Chapter V — Anglo-Saxon Laws 

(The Dooms of the Kings Alfred, Athelstan, and Edgar) 

25. Of a Man's Eye- Wound and of various other Limbs . . 87 

26. Of Lordless Men 88 

27. Of Landless Men 88 

28. Of the Doom concerning Hot Iron and Water .... 88 

29. Of Wer-Gilds 89 

30. Of People's Ranks and Law 90 

31. How the Hundred shall be held 91 

32. Ordinance of King Edgar — Church-Scots 92 

2,2,- Tithes 92 

34. Hearth Penny 92 

35. Festivals and Fasts 93 

2,^. Secular Ordinance 93 

Chapter VI — The Danes in England 

2,7- Danish Invasions 96 

38. Alfred at Athelney 97 

39. Alfred and Guthrum's Peace 98 

40. Second Period of Danish Invasion 99 

41. Laws of Canute loi 

42. Charter of Canute 103 

43. Letter of Canute to his People 105 

PART III 

FROM THE CONQUEST TO THE CHARTER 

(1066 to 1215) 

Chapter VII — The Norman Rule 

44. Invasion of England m 

45- Coronation Oath of William the Conqueror 117 

46. Administration of William I17 

47- Character of William Il8 

48. Doomsday Survey .119 



CONTENTS 3d 

SECTION PAGE 

49. A Doomsday Manor 121 

50. Letter of William I. to Gregory VII 121 

51. Royal Supremacy 122 

52. Separation of Spiritual and Lay Courts 122 

53. First Charter of the City of London 123 

54. Exactions of William Rufas 124 

55. Charter of Liberties of Henry 1 124 

56. Charter of the City of London (from Henry I.) . . . 127 

57. The Investiture Controversy 128 

Chapter VIII — The Early Angevins 

58. Henry II. and Thomas a Becket at the Council of 

Woodstock 130 

59. The Council of Westminster 131 

60. The Constitutions of Clarendon 133 

61. The King's Rash Words and Becket's Death .... 137 

62. The Assize of Clarendon 138 

6^. Constitution of the King's Household 141 

64. The First Coronation of Richard 1 147 

65. Levying a Feudal Aid 149 



PART IV 

FROM THE CHARTER TO THE REFORMATION 

(1215 to 1529) 
Chapter IX — The Papal Authority Triumphant 

66. The Struggle between John and Innocent HI 155 

67. England under the Interdict 156 

68. John Excommunicated by Name 157 

69. The Pope deposes the King 158 

70. The Papal Legate in England 159 

71. The Repentance of the King 160 

72. John resigns Crown and Kingdom to the Pope .... 160 
72. John does Homage to the Pope 162 

74. Declaration of Laws and Rights 164 

Chapter X — The Winning of the Charter 

75. Rising of the Barons 165 

76. Conference held by the Barons 165 

77. Demands of the Barons 166 



Xll 



SECTION 



CONTENTS 



PAGB 

78. London given up to the Barons 168 

79. Meeting at Runnymede 168 

80. The Magna Charta 169 

Chapter XI — The Growth of Law 

81. Summonses to Parliament 181 

82. Confirmation of the Charters 184 

83. Ecclesiastical Sanction of the Confirmation of the 

Charters 186 

84. De Tallagio Non Concedendo 186 

85. Law of Mortmain 187 

86. Freedom of Parliament '^' 189 

87. Taxation of Religious Houses 189 

88. The Statute of " Quia Emptores " 193 

89. Coronation Oath of Edward II I95 

90.' A Statute of Provisors (1352) I95 

91. First Statute of Treasons 196 

92. Second Statute of Provisors . 198 

93. Great Statute of Praemunire 199 

Chapter XII — The Black Death 

94. Spread of the Plague 203 

95 Statute of Labourers 206 

Chapter XIII — Lollardy 

96. Wycliffite Conclusions 209 

97. Bull of Pope Gregory XL against Wycliffe 211 

98. Reply of Wycliffe to a Summons from the Pope . . . 212 

99. De Hseretico Comburendo 214 

100. Henry V. to the Mayor and Sheriffs of London . . . 217 

loi. Henry V. to the Sheriff of Kent 219 

102. Henry VI. to the Abbot of St. Edmondsbury .... 220 

103. Mandate for the Burning of a Heretic ....... 222 



PART V 

THE TUDOR PERIOD 

(1509 to 1603) 
Chapter XIV — The Divorce Question" 

104. Henry Attempts to secure the Aid of the Church . . 227 

105. Speeches at the Trial 229 



CONTENTS xiii 

SECTION PAGE 

io6. Divorce Proceedings announced to the House of Com- 
mons ........ 231 

Chapter XV — Henry VHI and the Church 

107. Payment of Annates to the Pope Forbidden 234 

108. Appeals to Rome Prohibited 236 

109. Henry's Attitude toward Heretics 237 

no. Submission of the Clergy 239 

111. Act of Supremacy 243 

112. Denial of the Authority of the Pope 244 

113. Dissolution of the Monasteries 244 

114. Confession made with the Surrender of a Monastery . 247 

115. Directions for Visitations of Monasteries 247 

116. Letters concerning the Suppression of the Monasteries . 256 

117. Summons to the Pilgrimage of Grace 263 

118. Lancaster Herald's Mission to the Insurgents .... 263 

119. The Six Articles 267 

120. The Bible in the English Churches 269 

121. Church Services to be in English 271 

Chapter XVI — The Reign of Edward VI 

122. Regulations concerning the Sacrament of the Lord's 

Supper 273 

123. Act of Uniformity 274 

124. Against Books and Images 277 

125. Journal of Edward VI 279 

Chapter XVII — The Reaction against Protestantism 

126. Lady Jane Grey's Claim to the Throne 281 

127. Execution of Lady Jane Grey 285 

128. Mary's Claim to the Throne 286 

128a Reply of the Council 287 

129. Mary's Status as Queen 289 

130. Mary attempts to restore Church Lands 291 

131. Mary's Orders for the Execution of John Hooper . . 292 

132. The Burning of Ridley and Latimer 293 

Chapter XVIII — Elizabeth 

133. Classes of the People in the XVIth Century .... 298 



xiv CONTENTS 

SECTION PAGE 

134. The Anglican Standpoint 300 

135. The Presbyterian Position ... . .... . . . 302 

136. Whitgift's Articles touching Preachers and other Or- 

ders for the Church 304 

137. Puritan Demands 3^5 

138. Privileges of Parliament 306 

139. Elizabeth and Mary Stuart 307 

140. Defeat of the Spanish Armada 309 

141. Armada Speech of Elizabeth 310 

142. Execution of Margaret Qitherow 312 

143. Death of Elizabeth . 313 

Chapter XIX — Elizabethan Seamen 

144. Hawkins' Third Voyage 316 

145. Drake's Famous Voyage 319 

146. Frobisher's First Voyage 325 

147. The Beginnings of American Colonization 327 



PART VI 

THE STRUGGLE FOR CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERN- 
MENT 

(1603 to 1688) 
Chapter XX — The Reign of James I. 

148. Coronation Oath of James 1 335 

149. Crown above the Courts ., 336 

150. King is above the Law 337 

151. Millenary Petition 338 

152. Levying a Feudal Aid 341 

153. Benevolences 342 

154. James I. and the Commons 344 

Chapter XXI — The Puritan Revolution 

155. The Petition of Right 348 

156. First Writ of Ship-Money 352 

157. Ship-Money declared Illegal 355 

158. Charles I. and Strafford 357 

158a Charles I. to the House of Lords in behalf of the 

Earl of Strafford 358 

158b Parliament considers King's Letter 359 

159- A Summary of Grievances 360 



CONTENTS XV 

SECTION PAGE 

i6o. The Charge against the King , 364 

161. Charles refuses to Plead 366 

162. The Sentence of the King 368 

163. The Death Warrant of Charles 1 372 

Chapter XXII — England a Commonwealth 

164. Act abolishing the Office of King 273 

165. House of Lords Abolished S7^ 

166. England declared to be a Commonwealth 376 

167. Instrument of Government 377 

168. Cromwell disciplines his first Parliament 387 

169. Cromwell and the Kingship 389 

170. Richard Cromwell becomes Lord Protector .... 392 

Chapter XXIII — The Restoration 

171. Declaration of Breda 394 

172. Reception of the Declaration of Breda by Parliament . 396 

173. Commons thank Sir John Grenville 397 

174. Resolutions of Parliament urging the King to Return . 398 

175. Beginning of Cabinet Government 398 

176. Opinion of French Court concerning Members of Cabal 398 

177. Habeas Corpus Act 400 

178. James II. and the Catholics 409 

179. The Last Appeal 412 

PART VII 

ENGLAND A CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHY 

Chapter XXIV — '' The Glorious Revolution " 

180. Memorial from the Church of England to the Prince 

of Orange 417 

181. The Prince of Orange reorganizes the Government . 418 

182. The Lords invite William to undertake the Government 419 

183. The Manner of Summoning Parliament 419 

184. Answer of the Prince to the Suggestions of the Lords 420 

185. William of Orange to the Commons 421 

186. The Commons answer the Prince 421 

187. The Prince's Address to Parliament 422 

188. The Parliamentary Title of the Sovereign of England 423 

189. The Bill of Rights 424 

190. Act of Settlement 431 



xvi CONTENTS 



SECTION 



PAGB 



191. Jesuits in England under William 436 

192. Dissenters in the Eighteenth Century 438 

Chapter XXV — Union between England and Scotland 

193. Queen Anne's Speeches on Union of England and Scot- 

land 443 

194. Union between England and Scotland 445 

Chapter XXVI — The Jacobite Rebellions 

195. The Proclamation of James III 456 

196. Landing of the Young Pretender 458 

197. Escape of Prince Charles at Moy Hall 460 

198. After Culloden 462 

199. Bond given by the Young Pretender 464 

200. Execution of the Rebel Lords 464 

Chapter XXVII — John Wilkes 

201. No. 45 of the "North Briton" 467 

Chapter XXVIII — American Independence 

202. Question of Taxation 474 

203. Policy of Conciliation 475 

204. Right to Tax 477 

205. Character of the Colonists 480 

Chapter XXIX — Union of Great Britain and Ireland 

206. The Union Advocated 483 

207. Grattan Opposes the Union 485 

208. Act of Union between Great Britain and Ireland . . . 487 



PART vm 

THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 

Chapter XXX — Emancipation 

209. "No-Popery" Riots 497 

210. Speech of King George on Catholic Emancipation . . 500 

211. Speech of the Attorney General against the Catholic 

Emancipation Bill 501 

212. Speech of Lord Plunkett for the Emancipation Bill . 504 



CONTENTS xvii 

SECTION PAGE 

213. The Duke of Wellington on Emancipation 511 

214. End of Jewish Disability 509 

215. Oaths Act 510 

216. Jewish Relief Act 513 

217. End of the Slave Trade 515 

Chapter XXXI — Parliamentary Reform 

218. Speech on the First Reform Bill 519 

219. Prorogation of the Anti-Reform Parliament .... 523 

220. Passage of the First Reform Bill 527 

Chapter XXXII — Chartism and Corn Law Repeal 

221. First National Petition 531 

222. Presentation of the National Petition 537 

223. Suffering of the '' Lower Classes " 537 

224. Repeal of the Corn Law 539 

Chapter XXXIII — Australia 

225. Establishment of the Colony 542 

226. First Penal Settlement 545 

227. Discovery of Gold 549 

228. Result of the Finding of Gold 551 

Chapter XXXIV — The Indian Empire 

229. English at Surat and Bombay 554 

230. Letter of Warren Hastings 557 

231. Cession of India to the English Crow^n 562 

232. Victoria, Empress of India 565 

Chapter XXXV — England and the Transvaal 

2:>,^. Sand River Convention 583 

234. Convention of Pretoria 571 

235. Convention of London 580 

Bibliographical Index 587 

Subject Index 603 



PART I 

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF SOURCES 



CHAPTER I 

HISTORIANS, CATALOGUES, AND COLLECTIONS 

SECTION 1. — THE HISTORIANS 

The student of history should be able to recall without 
effort the names of the principal historians of his chosen 
field. With the names should be associated in his memory 
the important works of those historians, and of these works 
the scope and value should be known. As study becomes 
more intensive and the field of research narrower or more 
thoroughly explored, his bibliography of the subject should 
attain a comprehensiveness that includes all available 
material. 

Bibliographies are too often mere collections of names, 
series of titles which form a catalogue whose value varies 
with the knowledge possessed as to each item. Such in- 
sufficiency of equipment more often results from lack of a 
true conception on the part of the student of his needs than 
from unwillingness to gain the requisite knowledge. 

The most extended and minute knowledge of authors and 
their works is incomplete — is, we may say, of little worth 
— unless it includes a valuation of the items of evidence 
which bibliography furnishes. This appraisement must be 
the work of the student himself, and by his success must be 
measured his understanding of history. To acquire the 
power of correctly gauging the weight of this or that his- 
torian is by no means easy; but it is not impossible. The 
work of critics and essayists will give views worthy of most 
respectful consideration ; but such work is too often special 
pleading, and in the last instance the student must, as did 
the critic, investigate for himself the personality, the environ- 
ment, and the opportunities of the writer whose work is 
under examination. Until a knowledge of these is gained, 
even a study of original materials fails to reveal the mean- 
ing and purport of history. 

3 



4 " SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

I 

BOSTON, JOHN (b. ; d. 1410) : Catalogus Scriptorum 

EcclesicB. 

Valuable for its account of the libraries of England in the 
fourteenth century. Of slight worth in accounts of individual 
authors. The Catalogus has been reprinted in part in No. 
VII. Boston is the first of the English Bibliographers. 

II 

LELAND, JOHN (b. 1506; d. 1552) : De Rebus Britannicis 
Collectanea, ed. T. Hearne. Oxford, 171 5. Reprinted 
London, 1770. — Commentarii de Script orihus Britannicis, 
ed. A. Hall. Oxford, 1709. — (A continuation of De Re- 
bus, etc.) 

Leland has been called "the Father of English Antiqua- 
ries." He was the librarian of Henry VIII., and as "King's 
antiquary" was commissioned to search for records and 
manuscripts in all cathedrals, colleges, abbeys and priors 
of England. He was successful in his search, and his » 
works, of which the two principal ones are noted above, are 
of great value. Although Boston (No. I) antedates Leland, 
yet the latter's work was the first important English con- 
tribution to bibliographical knowledge and was the foun- 
dation for future publications of similar character. 

Ill 

BALE, JOHN (b. 1495; d. 1563): Illustrium Majoris Bri- 
tannia^ Scriptorum, hoc est, Anglice, Cambricu ac Scotia, 
Summarium. First published Ipswich, 1549. Then in 
" several editions at London. Notably the first ed. 1559, 
under title Illustrium Majoris Britannice Scriptorum Cata- 
logus, a Japheto sanctissimi Noah filio ad An. Dom. 1559. 

Bale was educated in the Catholic faith. He became a 
Protestant and a most zealous partisan. His life was a 
stormy one, and his writings reflect the bitterness engendered 
by the religious controversies in which he was actively en- 
gaged. Despite his bias and bitterness against all writers 
not of his faith, his work is yet of great value because of 
the minuteness with which it describes Protestant writers 
not elsewhere mentioned. 

IV 

PITS, JOHN (b. 1560; d. 1616) : Relationum Historicarum 
de Rebus Anglicis, Tomus primus. Paris 1619. This work 
is also known as De Illustribus Anglice Scriptoribus. This 
is the fourth volume of Pits' work. The first three vol-. 
, umes have never been published. The manuscript is at 
Verdun, in the library of the collegiate church. 



HISTORIANS, CATALOGUES, COLLECTIONS 5 

Pits was a violent Catholic partisan. His work furnishes 
the antithesis to that of Bale (No. III.) It is marred by the 
same suppressions, exaggerations and misrepresentations in 
favour of the Catholics as occur in the work of Bale in 
behalf of the Protestants. But the book is of value for its 
careful and comprehensive accounts of Catholic writers and 
their works. 

V 

CAVE, WILLIAM (b. 1637; d. 1713) : Scriptorum Ec- 
clesiastic or iim Hist or ia Litter aria a Christ o nato usque 
ad Scrcuhmt XIV. First published 1688. The best edition 
is that of the Clarendon Press, 1740-1743. This contains 
many additions by Cave and a continuation by Wharton 
and Grey bringing the v;^ork down to 15 17. 

The work is in the main trustworthy. (See contra, Le- 
clerc, in Bibliotheque universelle.) Cave was careful, ac- 
curate, and able to avail himself of existing sources. The 
volume is of especial value in its field of Church History. 

VI 

WARE, SIR JAMES (b. 1594; d. 1666) : De Scriptorihus 
Hibernice. 1639. 

The first of the great bibliographies of Irish History. It 
is fair, but limited in scope and lacking in detail. Superseded 
by No. VII. 

VII 

TANNER, THOMAS (b. 1674; d. 1735): Bihliotheca Bri- 
tannic o-Hibernica. London, 1748, ed. D. Wilkins. 

"On all questions connected with the early literature of 
our nation. Tanner's Bibliothcca, notwithstanding its many 
omissions, defects and redundancies, is still the highest au- 
thority to which the inquirer can refer." See Hardy in No. 
VIII. The Bibliothcca is based on original research, and yet 
due regard was paid to the work of Leland, Bale and Pits. 

For details regarding later historians consult Allibone, S. 
A., Critical Dictionary of English Literature, w^ith supple- 
ment by J. F. Kirk ; Lee's Dictionary of National Biography, 
and other cyclopaedic works. 



SECTION 2. — CATALOGUES OF SOURCES 

Catalogues of Sources are indispensable to the student. 
Their uses are varied. The student who is acquainted with 
the name of an author or editor turns to the catalogues for 



6 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

an enumeration of his works, their contents, and a synopsis 
of particulars regarding editions, times and places of publi- 
cation, and reviews, comments, and criticisms; or the name 
of the work is taken as a basis of research and the same 
results are obtained. Again, the investigator may desire 
to obtain an estimate of the critical value of a work, in a con- 
densed form and apart from the point of view of essays and 
reviews. Lastly, the student may desire to gain a knowledge 
of the literature upon a given subject, and this is to be found 
in the catalogues. I have below given references to the most 
useful works in this field; but the student should supplement 
these and keep abreast of current literature by reference to 
the Annual Annotated Bibliography of English History, 
edited by W. D. Johnston. This has been published in both 
card and pamphlet form by the American Library Associa- 
tion. It will henceforth be found in the Annual Report of 
the American Historical Association. Knowledge of the 
valuable contributions upon present historical questions may 
be obtained by reference to Poole and Fletcher's Index to 
Periodical Literature, and also to the Cumulative Index. 

The student, however, must not rest content with these 
sources of information. They will serve for the preparation 
of the skeleton bibliography, the construction of which should 
always precede serious historical investigation; but this 
framework must be clothed from the references to be found 
in footnotes and bibliographical lists attached to works upon 
his chosen field. Information thus obtained is more directly 
referred to its proper place, and assigned its exact value and 
application, than is possible in any general catalogue. 

VIII 

HARDY, THOMAS DUFFUS: A Descriptive Catalogue 
of Manuscripts relating to the History of Great Britain 
and Ireland. Published 1862-1891 in the Rolls Series 

(No. XXXI) in 3 volumes. Vol. I (2 pts.), 1066; 

Vol. II, 1066-1200; Vol. Ill, 1200-1327. Vol. I, pt. 2, con- 
tains a catalogue of printed source material up to date of 
publication. 

This catalogue is of the greatest value. It furnishes in 
concise form a mass of indispensable data. It is, and must 
for years remain, the basis of bibliographical study in early 
English history. A supplement to Vol. I, Part 2, is needed, 
but the student can without difficulty supply the break from 
1862 to this present date. 



HISTORIANS, CATALOGUES, COLLECTIONS 7 

IX 

WATT'S BIBLIOTHECA BRITANNICA: A General In- 
dex to British and Foreign Literature, ed. R. Watt. Edin- 
burgh, 1824. 

This catalogue is a mine of information. It is indexed 
by authors and subjects. 

X 

LOWNDES, WILLIAM THOMAS (b. 1800; d. 1843): 
The Bibliographer's Manual of English Literature, ed. H. 
G. Bohn. London, 1864. 

This series (11 vols. i2mo) is of great value. Its scope 
is indicated by the sub-title : 'An Account of rare, curious, 
and useful books, published in or relating to Great Britain 
and Ireland, from the invention of printing ; with biograph- 
ical and critical notices, collations of the rarer articles and 
the prices at which they have been sold in the present cen- 
tury." The appendix volume is especially useful ; it contains 
"An Account of books issued by literary and scientific so- 
cieties and printing clubs ; books printed at private presses ; 
privately printed series; and the principal literary and scien- 
tific serials." 

XI 

THE ENGLISH CATALOGUE of Books published from 
18^5 to January 186^. Comprising the Contents of the 
London and the British Catalogues, etc., etc. London, 
1864. 

This series has been continued to date. Although it leaves 
much to be desired, it is invaluable. Its appendix continues 
the work of Lowndes (No. X) in cataloguing publications 
of learned societies. It thus bridges the gap between 
Lowndes and the Official Year Book of the Scientific and 
Learned Societies, which was begun in 1884. The scope of 
this series is shown by the sub-title of its continuations : 
'An Alphabetical List of Works published in the United 
Kingdom and of the Principal Works published in America. 
With dates of Publication, Indications of Size, Price, Edi- 
tions and Publishers' names." For earlier record of printed 
books see the catalogues of Maunsell (1595) A Catalogue 
of certaine books (1631), London (1658), Clavell (1666- 
1695), Bent's General Catalogue (1786), London Catalogue 
(1811-1855) continued by No. XI. See also The American 
Catalogue. 

XII 

GROSS, CHARLES : Bibliography of British Municipal 
History, 'including Gilds and Parliamentary Representa- 
tion. Published in Harvard Historical Studies, 1897. 



8 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

This is the most modern, the most illuminating, and with- 
al the most satisfactory work within its chosen field. The 
scope of the work is even more extensive than indicated by 
its title. 

In addition to the class of w^orks included above, there are 
a number of most helpful volumes upon modern historians. 
These do not pretend to be as scientific in treatment or as 
inclusive in scope as those numbered from I to XII and yet 
should be within access of students. Among them I v^^ould 
enumerate : 

XIII 

ADAMS, C. K. : Manual of Historical Literature. New 
York, I J 



This work comprises "brief descriptions of the most im- 
portant histories." It is a helpful work, and from it may 
be obtained impartial and accurate estimates of historical 
values. 

The Manual was first published in 1882. No thorough re- 
vision has been made. The revision of 1888 was not a com- 
plete one. A new edition of this valuable book is needed. 

XIV 

SONNENSCHEIN, W. S. : Best Books. A Reader's Guide 
to the choice of the Best Available Books in every depart- 
ment of Science, Art, and Literature (about ^0,000 titles) 
down to i8po, with prices and numerous notes. London, 
1889. Also, by same editor, A Reader's Guide to Con- 
temporary Literature being the first supplement to Best 
Books. London, 1894. 

These volumes are of the greatest value. They are not 
only useful for historical purposes, but furnish a wealth of 
bibliographical information upon the multitude of questions 
arising in the study of history. Such knowledge is in- 
dispensable to the thorough student. The student should 
know Brunet, J. C. : Manuel du Libraire, Paris ; also Ebert, 
F. A.: Allgemeines bibliographisches Lexikon, Leipzig, 
1821-30. 

The student will find much biographical information in 
a book whose title would seem to limit it to a particular 
library, but whose application is not so confined. It is 
Hand-list of Bibliographies, classified Catalogues and In- 
dexes placed in the Reading Room of the British Museum 
for Reference. See also Richard Sims' Hand-Book to the 
library of the British Museum. 



HISTORIANS, CATALOGUES, COLLECTIONS 



SECTION 3.— GREAT COLLECTIONS OF MATERIALS 

The manuscript sources of English history for the periods 
after the Norman Conquest are abundant and valuable. 
Through the labours of scores of scholars, working, not for 
gain, but for the advancement of historical science, the 
student has at his disposal critical editions of a large part of 
the most important sources. These texts have been prepared 
with an erudition and exhaustiveness that is unsurpassed, 
perhaps unequalled, in like critical work. The texts have in 
many cases been issued in collections and series, and it is my 
purpose in this section to give a general statement of the 
characters of the most important, and to indicate where de- 
tailed information concerning them can be found. The 
edited texts and single translations are enumerated in sec- 
tions 4 to 10 inclusive. Certain students may shrink from 
an examination of untranslated sources ; and I think it in 
place to encourage them by the statement that the most ele- 
mentary knowledge of Latin can — because of the simplicity 
of style, the limitations of vocabulary, and the copious notes 
and special glossaries of the edited texts — easily master the 
materials which are not in English. 

XV 

ABBOTSFORD CLUB PUBLICATIONS. 

This club was instituted at Edinburgh, 1835. Its purpose 
is the publication of miscellaneous works, illustrative of 
history, literature and antiquities. Its field of work is Scot- 
land. For list of publications, see Nos. VIII and X and so- 
cieties' catalogues. These latter should be consulted in look- 
ing up every reference herein given to publications of learned 
societies; also No. XI (appendix) and the Official Year 
Book for work of existing societies. 

XVI 

ACTA SANCTORUM: quotquot toto orhc coluntnr, vel a 
catholids scriptoribus celehrantnr, ex Latinis et Grcrcis; 
aliarumqtie gentium antiquis monnmentis collecta, digesta, 
notisque illustrata ab J. Bollando et al. Antwerp, 1643- 
1794. 

This gigantic work is a mine of information upon the 
lives of the saints, but it is chiefly valuable to the secular 
historian for the light thrown upon the times of the charac- 
ters described. For catalogue of British saints discussed in 
No. XVI, see No. VIII under title Acta Sanctorum. 



10 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

XVII 

^LFRIC SOCIETY PUBLICATIONS. 

This society was instituted in London, 1843, for the pur- 
pose of publishing Anglo-Saxon and other literary monu- 
ments, both civil and ecclesiastical, tending to illustrate the 
early state of England. See Nos. VIII and X. 

XVIII 

ANGLIA SACRA: sive collectio Historiarum, partim anti- 
quitus, partim recenter scriptarum, de Archiepiscopis et 
Episcopis AnglicB, a prima Fidei ChristiancB susceptione 
ad annum MDXL, ed. H. Wharton. London, 1691. 

For the contents of this set, whose scope is explained by 
its title, see No. VIII. 

XIX 

ARCH^OLOGIA. Published by the Society of Anti- 
quaries. 

The society probably developed from a society which was 
founded in 1572. Its publications are valuable and chiefly 
relate to the early and middle period of English history. 
The catalogue of this series will be found in No. VIIL This 
series must not be confounded with the publications of 
the scores of Archaeological Societies that exist in Great 
Britain. Many of these series are of great value. See No. X. 

XX 

BALUZE, S. : Miscellanea, novo ordine digesta et non pan- 
cis ineditis monnmentis opportunisque animadversionibus 
aucta, opera ac studio Joannis Dominici Mansi, Lucensis. 
Lucae, 1761. 

Contains various documents not elsewhere so readily ac- 
cessible. Has been superseded by later works for which see 
No. VIIL 

XXI 

BANNATYNE CLUB PUBLICATIONS.' 

This club was organized at Edinburgh, 1823, with the 
object of printing rare works illustrative of Scottish history, 
topography, etc. Club was dissolved, 1861. Its publications 
are of value. For catalogue, see Nos. VIII and X. 

XXII 

BOUQUET: Recueil des Historiens des Gaules et de la 
France, ed. M. Bouquet. Paris, 1738-1855. 



HISTORIANS, CATALOGUES, COLLECTIONS ii 

The recora of early Gaul and France and England as 
traced by contemporary and early historians. Valuable for 
texts of chronicles and histories by English and Norman 
authors. For contents relating to England, see No. VIII. 
This series is sometimes cited as Rerum Gallicarum et Fran- 
cicarum Scriptores. 

XXIII 

BRITISH RECORD SOCIETY PUBLICATIONS. 

This society was founded, in 1898, for the purpose of fur- 
nishing such information as well as rendering the records 
more accessible. Publications of value. See note to No. XV. 

XXIV 

CALENDARS OF STATE PAPERS. 

The State Papers spring from three great and original 
sources ; namely, the offices of the Secretaries of State for 
the Foreign, the Colonial, and the Home Departments. In 
the State Paper office they are classified under their several 
denominations, those emanating from the Home Depart- 
ment being technically called the Domestic Papers. The 
multitude of State Papers presents a vast field of valuable 
material. The student, to whom the papers were accessible, 
would without a guide be lost in their mazes. Such a 
guide is to be found in the valuable Calendars of State Pa- 
pers. These catalogue the documents and abstract their con- 
tents with a completeness that relieves the ordinary student 
from the task of examining the manuscripts themselves. The 
calendars commence with the reign of Henry VIII. They 
extend, though in broken sequence, to the close of the 
eighteenth century. 

XXV 

CAMDEN: Anglica, Hihernica, Normannica, Camhrica, a 
veterihus scripta, etc. etc., ed. W. Camden. 1602. 

This set, as also No. XVIII, has been in part superseded 
by No. XXXI ; but it is still of great value to those to whom 
No. XXXI is not accessible. For contents of No. XIX, 
see No. VIII. 

XXVI 

CAMDEN SOCIETY PUBLICATIONS. 

This society was Instituted in London, 1838, for the pur- 
pose of perpetuating and rendering accessible "whatever is 
valuable, but at present little known, amongst the materials 
for the civil, ecclesiastical or literary history of the United 
Kingdom." The work of this society is of great value. Its 
scope has, since the projection of the Rolls Series (No. 



12 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

XXXI), been devoted to the materials of the i6th, 17th and 
i8th centuries. Its publications contain a mass of informa- 
tion not elsewhere accessible. See lists of the society's publi- 
cations and Descriptive Catalogue of the First series (1838 
to 1870) ed. J. G. Nichols, Nos. VIII and X. Do not 
catalogue the series beyond 1862-64. See XIV, Supplement, 
and Official Year Book. Also No. XL 

XXVII 

CANISIUS: Thesaurus Monumentorum Ecclesiastic ovum et 
Historicorum, sive Henrici Canisii Lectiones Antiques, ad 
Sceculorum Ordinem digestce, variisque opusculis auctcu, 
quibus Prcefationes Historicas, Animadversiones criticas, 
et Notas in singulos auctores, adjecit Jacobus Basnage; 
cum Indicibus locupletissimis. Antuerpice, apud Rudol- 
phum et Gerhardum Wetstenios. 1725. 

This work in the above, or in the Ingoldstat edition of 
1601-1604, is of value where more modern texts are inacces- 
sible; it has, however, been superseded by them. For con- 
tents, see No. VIII. 

XXVIII 

CAXTON SOCIETY PUBLICATIONS. 

This society was instituted in London, 1845, for the pur- 
pose of publishing the chronicles and literature of the 
Middle Ages. Its publications have not equaled those of No. 
XXIII in critical value, but they are useful and in the main 
accurate. For contents, see No. VIII and note to No. XV. 

XXIX 

CHETHAM SOCIETY PUBLICATIONS 

This society was instituted at Manchester, 1843, for the 
purpose of publishing the- historical and literary remains 
connected with the Palatine Counties of Lancaster and 
Chester. In its chosen field the publications of the society 
possess unique value. For contents, see No. VIII and note 
to No. XV. 

XXX 

COBBETT, WILLIAM: The Parliamentary History of 
England from the earliest period to the year 180^. 

This work supersedes (a) Parliamentary or Constitutional 
History . . .by several hands. London, 1751-61, as well as 
all previous collections dealing with proceedings on Parlia- 
ment. Yet where Cobbett's work is inaccessible the early 
collections are of great importance. Of these the student 
should in any case be familiar with {b) D'Ewes' Journals 



HISTORIANS, CATALOGUES, COLLECTIONS 13 

of the Parliaments of Queen Eli:;abeth. (c) Chandler and 
Timberland's Debates, (d) Grey's Debates of the House 
of Commons from 1667 to 1694. (e) Almons' Debates, (f) 
Debrett's Debates, (f) Parry's The Parliaments and Coun- 
cils of England. See for other early debates No. X, 
The work of Cobbett is continued by No. XLII. 

XXXI 

CHRONICLES AND MEMORIALS: Chronicles and 
Memorials of Great Britain and Ireland during the Middle 
Ages. 

This collection is usually cited as the ROLLS SERIES. 
It is of the highest value. Its contents — see VIII and Lists 
of series — are of such scholarly rank as to possess the 
highest authority, and the texts therein contained supersede 
all previous editions. The scope of the series extends from 
the invasion of the Romans to the end of the reign of 
Henry VII. The texts have been edited after the following 
plan : Texts not to be mutilated or abridged, accepted text 
to be formed from collation of most authentic manuscripts. 
Accompanying the texts are valuable introductions, in which 
may be found an account of the manuscripts, their peculiari- 
ties, account of the life and times of the author, as well as 
remarks explaining the chronology. 

XXXII 

COLGANUS, ].: Acta Sanctorum Hihernice, per Joannem 
Colganum edit a. Lovanice, 1645-47. 

Of considerable interest in its field. For contents, see 
No. VIII. 

XXXIII 

COLLECTAN^ ADAMANT.^A 

This small series, begun by E. Goldsmith, Edinburgh, in 
1884, reproduces a number of rare texts ; they are in most 
cases translated as well as edited. 

XXXIV 

COUNCILS AND ECCLESIASTICAL DOCUMENTS 

Under this head seven series are included because of their 
especial importance. 

(A) CARDWELL, E. : Documentary Annals of the 
Reformed Church of England, being a Collection of In- 
junctions, Declarations, Orders, Articles of Inquiry, etc. 
etc., from 1546 to 17 16. Oxford, 1839. 

See also Sparrow's Collection. London, 1661, and later 
editions. 



14 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

(B) CARDWELL, E. : Synodalia, a Collection of Ar- 
ticles of Religion, Canons and Proceedings of Convoca- 
tions in the Province of Canterbury from 1547 to 1717, 
with notes historical and explanatory. Oxford, 1842. 

Invaluable for history of convocations. 

(BB) GIBSON'S CODEX: Codex Juris Ecclesiastici 
Anglicani, or the Statutes, Constitutions, Canons, Ru- 
hricks and Articles of the Church of England, etc., etc., etc. 
Ed. E. Gibson. London, 1703. 

A valuable work. 

(C) HADDAN, A. W., and STUBBS, W.: Councils 
and Ecclesiastical Documents relating to Great Britain 
and Ireland. Oxford, 1869 et seq. 

This series is most valuable within its scope, which ends 
870, for the British Church. With 1295 for the Welsh and 
1072 for the Cornish. 

(D) JOHNSON, J.: A Collection of the Laws and 
Canons of the Church of England from its first Foundation 
to 1519. Translated into English with explanatory notes. 
London, 1720. Oxford, 1850. 

Though not entirely satisfactory, this series bridges the 
gap between XXXIV (C) and XXXIV {A) and {B). Con- 
tains Lynwood's notes. 

{E) LYNWOOD, W. : Provinciale seu Constitutiones 
Anglice, continens Constitutiones Provinciales XIV archi- 
episcoporum Cantuariensium, vis. a Stephano Langtono ad 
Henricum Chichle'ium. Oxford, 1470-80. Best edition, 
cui adiicuntur constitutiones Legatince Dom. Othonis et 
Othotonis [John of Actona's Gloss]. Oxford, 1679. 

Only complete view of Ecclesiastical Jurisprudence before 
the Reformation in England. 

{F) SPELMAN, H. : Concilia, Decreta, Leges, Consti- 
tutiones, in re Ecclesiarum Orbis Britannici ab initio 
Christiance ibidem Religionis ad nostram usque cetatam. 
1st vol. London, 1669. Ild vol. ed. C. Spelman, London, 
1664. 

The scope of this work extends to 1530. — It is not only 
valuable in itself, but should be used in conjunction with the 
translated documents in XXXIV A, B, D. 



HISTORIANS, CATALOGUES, COLLECTIONS 15 

(G) WILKINS, D. : Concilia magnce Britannico et Hi- 
bernicr. Accedunt constitutiones et alia. London, 1737- 

Still valuable. 

(H) JAFFE, P.: Rcgesta Potitificum Romanorum. 
Leipzig, 1885. 

Papal Letters from 64-1198. 

(/) POTTHAST, A.: Regesta Pontificum Romanorum. 
Berlin, 1873-75. 

Papal Letters from 1 198-1304. 

XXXV 

D'ARCHERY, D. L. : Spicilegium sive Collectio veterum 
aliquot Scriptorum qui in Gallia Bihliothecis delituerant, 
etc., etc. Paris, 1723. 

Of interest because of the rare letters it contains. For 
contents, see No. VIII. This manuscript is supplemented 
by Vetera Analecta; see No. VIII for title and contents. 

XXXVI 

DUGDALES MONASTICON: Monasticon Anglicanum, 
William Dugdale, ed. Caley, Bandinel and Ellis. London, 
1817-1830. 

This work is indispensable to a study of the ecclesiastical 
history of England and Wales. It covers the period from 
the institution to the dissolution of the monasteries. See 
note to No. XV. 

XXXVII 

EARLY ENGLISH TEXT SOCIETY PUBLICATIONS. 

This society was founded, in 1864, for the purpose of edit- 
ing and reprinting the texts of early English writers. The 
publications of the society are useful. See note to No. XV. 

XXXVIII 

ENGLISH HISTORICAL SOCIETY PUBLICATIONS. 

This society was instituted in 1837 for the purpose of 
publishing the results of bibliographical and chronological 
investigations. — Before its dissolution the society issued 
several texts, which are valuable when other editions are un- 
procurable. For contents, see No. X and note to No. XV. 



i6 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

XXXIX 

EXCERPT A HISTORIC A; or Illustrations of English 
History, ed. S. Bentley. London, 1831. 

Contains a variety of interesting documents which, though 
of secondary importance, are of value as illustrating phases 
of history. For contents, see No. VIII. 

XL 

FASTI ECCLESLE ANGLICANS; or, a Calendar of 
the Principal Dignitaries in England and Wales, and of 
the chief Officers in the University of Oxford and Cam- 
bridge from the eariest times to the year 1715, ed. John 
Le Neve. Ed. and cent, by T. D. Hardy. Oxford, 1854. 

An indispensable work of reference in its field. See also 
Fasti Ecclesice Hibernice, ed. Cotton. London, 1858. 

XLI 

HAKLUYT SOCIETY PUBLICATIONS. 

This society was organized in London, 1846, for the pur- 
pose of publishing rare and valuable voyages, travels and 
geographical records. Its purpose has been well carried out. 
Its publications are of the highest value and should be known 
to every student. See Nos. VIII, X and note to No. XV. 

XLII 

HANZARD, T. C. : Parliamentary Debates, from the year 
180^ to the present time: forming a continuation of the 
work entitled ''The Parliamentary history of England 
from the earliest period to the year 180 f [No. XXX]. 
London, 1812-20. Nev^ Series, London, 1820-30. Third 
Series, London, 1831-91. Fourth Series, London, 1892-96. 
Fifth Series, now in course of publication. 

This series, and that numbered XXX, are invaluable. 
Parliamentary history can best be followed in their volumes. 
See also No. XLVII. 

XLIII 

HARLEIAN MISCELLANY: a collection of scarce, en- 
rious and entertaining tracts, ed. Oldys and Park. London, 
1808. 

These volumes contain a mass of material of varying value 
yet of uniform interest. The student will find much that 
will be helpful. These volumes should not be confounded 
with those issued by the Harleian Society, which was in- 
stituted for the publication of inedited manuscripts relating 
to genealogy, family history and heraldry. 



HISTORIANS, CATALOGUES, COLLECTIONS 17 

XLIV 

HENRY BRADSHAW SOCIETY PUBLICATIONS. 

This society was founded, in 1890, for the purpose of 
printing and editing rare liturgical texts. Its work is im- 
portant. See note to No. XV. 

XLV 

IMPERIAL INSTITUTE OF THE UNITED KINGDOM, 
THE COLONIES AND INDIA PUBLICATIONS. 

This society was founded, in 1887, for the purpose of col- 
lecting and publishing, both by lectures and books, informa- 
tion regarding the Empire. The work of the society is valu- 
able • for contemporaneous record and future possibilities. 
See note to No. XV. 

XL VI 

IRISH HISTORICAL SOCIETIES. 

The work of the numerous societies is of value, and the 
student should consult No. X for the publications of the 
Iberno-Celtic Society (bibliographical), the Irish Archae- 
ological, and the Irish x\rchaeological and Celtic Societies, 
both devoted to the publication of materials for the study of 
Irish History, See also No. LVI and note to No. XV. 

XL VII 

JOURNALS: (a) House of Commons; (b) House of Lords. 

(a) Journals of the House of Commons. London. 

(b) Journals of the House of Lords. London. 

These extremely valuable series extend from 1547 to date. 
They are indexed and in some instances calendared ; for de- 
tails, see No. IX. They should be consulted in connection 
with Nos. XXX and XLII. 

XLVIII 

LAWS AND STATUTES. 

(A) Anglo-Saxon Period. See No. XCI. 

(B) Norman Period. In addition to volumes numbered 
CIV, CV, and CVI, see The Sources of the Law of Eiii^- 
land, by H. Brunner, trans. W. Hastie. Edinburgh, 1888. 

(C) From 1215. 

(a) Statutes of the Realm, ed. A. Luders, T. E. 
Tomlins and others. London, 1810-22. 

Statutes from 1215 to 1713. — Preceded by several 
earlier charters. Contains valuable introduction on le- 
gal bibliography. 



i8 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 



^ 



(b) Statutes at Large from Magna Charta, ed. O. 
Ruff head and others. London, 1 763-1800. 

From 1215 to 1800. 

(c) Statutes at Large of the United Kingdom of 
Great Britain and Ireland, ed. T. E. Tomlins and 
others. London, 1804-69. 

From 1801-1869. 

{d) Public General Statutes. 

From 1 830- 1 887. 
{e) Public General Acts. Published by Authority. 

1888 and following. 

From these editions may be studied the sequence of legis- 
lation and the detail of acts from the earliest records to the 
present annual publications. In addition to the series men- 
tioned there are series of Revised Statutes published by- 
authority. These are not as valuable for historical research, 
as they do not contain obsolete statutes. Abridgments and 
other private editions of the laws are of even less value from 
the historical standpoint. — The series named are well in- 
dexed and see for this Gross, Bibliography of Municipal 
History, No. IX as well as works therein mentioned on page 
13 et seq. 

The student should make himself familiar with the prin- 
cipal series of reports and also with accounts of trials in 
the various courts. 

XLIX 

LETTERS. 

Various important collections of letters have been made. 
See the titles in chapter II, also No. VIII. 

L 

MABILLON : Acta Sanctorum Ordinis Sancti Benedicti in 
ScBculorum Classes distributa .. . Paris, 1688-1701. Venice 
(reprint), 1733. 

This Avork is of value. VIII does not give full list of the 
lives of the British saints in L, but the exclusion is judicious, 
as all lives not based upon manuscript sources are excluded. 

LI 

MAITLAND CLUB PUBLICATIONS. 

This club was instituted at Glasgow in 1828 for the pur- 
pose of printing works illustrative of the antiquities, liter- 
ature and history of Scotland. See Nos. VIII, X and so- 
cieties catalogues. See also Wodrow Society Publications 
catalogue in No. X and No. VIII. 



4 



HIST0RIA.\'S, CATALOGUES, COLLECTIONS 19 

LII 

MANX SOCIETY PUBLICATIONS. 

This societ}' was instituted at Douglas, Kle of Man, in 
1858, for the purpose of pubHshing materials for the history 
of Soder and Man. The publications afford valuable light 
in an obscure field. 

LIII 

MESSINGHAM, THOMAS: Florilegiiim Lnsiilcr Sancto- 
rum sen Vitcc et Acta Sanctorum Hibernicc. 

For contents, see VIII. For additional lives of the saints 
— and from such writings much of the detail of early his- 
tory may be obtained — see Capgrave's Notq Lcgcnda Anglicc 
(see No. VIII, p. 736 and note). See Pinkerton's Vita: 
Antiqucu Sanctoniui Scotice (contents stated in No. VIII). 

LIV 

MIGNE, L'ABBE: Patriologice Cnrsiis Complctus. Paris, 
1844-1855. Part of this set exists in a French translation. 

This monumental series contains well edited texts of the 
works of the early English writers, and also valuable cor- 
respondence. See No. VIII for contents. 

LV 

MONUMENTA HISTORICA BRITANNICA, or Materials 
for the History of Britain, ed. H. Petrie and J. Sharpe. 
London, 1848. 

A valuable work. Of particular interest because of the 
material bearing upon earliest British history. 

LVI 

OSSIANIC SOCIETY PUBLICATIONS. 

This society was instituted at Dublin, 1853, for the purpose 
of preserving and of publishing manuscripts in the Irish 
language illustrative of the Fenian period of Irish history . . . 
with literal translations and notes. The publications are of 
great interest. See No. X. See also No. XLVI and note 
to No. XV. 

LVII 

PARKER SOCIETY PUBLICATIONS. 

This society was instituted at Cambridge. 1840. for the 
purpose of reprinting without abridgment, alteration, and 
omission, of the best works of the Fathers and early writers 
of the Reformed English Church, published in the period 
between the accession of King Edward VI. and the death of 
Queen Elizabeth. See Nos. VIII, X, and note to No. XV. 



20 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

LVIII 

PARLIAMENTARY WRITS and zvrits of military sum- 
mons . . . relating to the suit and service due and performed 
to the King's high court of Parliament and the councils of 
the realm, or affording evidence of attendence given at 
Parliaments and councils, ed. F. Palgrave. No. XXX 
London, 1827- 1834. 



It 

f 



Of this work Professor Gross well says : "The most elabo 
rate source for the study of parliamentary history in the 
reigns of Edward I. and Edward II." See also W. Prynne's 
A brief register, kalendcr, and survey of the several kinds 
[and] forms of all parliamentary zvrits. London, 1659-64. 
Examples extend to 1483. In connection with Parliamentary- 
Writs, see Parliamentary Papers. 1878, vol. Ixii, parts i-iii. 
London, 1878, for a Return of the name of every member 
of the lower house of the Parliaments of England, Scotland, 
and Ireland, with name of constituency represented, and date 
of return, from 1213 to 1874. Also Parliamentary Papers, 
1890-91, vol. Ixii, London, 1891, which contains the foregoing 
to 1885. See also the critical examination of above compila- 
tions by W. W. Bean in the Parliamentary Returns . . . 
London, 1883. 

LIX 

PIPE ROLL SOCIETY PUBLICATIONS. 

This society was instituted in London, in 1883, for the 
purpose of publishing the Great Rolls of the Exchequer, 
commonly called the Pipe Rolls, and other documents prior 
to the year a.d. 1200. The rolls begin in 2 Hen. II., and ex- 
tend with but two breaks (i Hen. III. and 7 Hen. IV. — this 
break is filled by other records — ) to 1833. The Rolls are 
of great value. One not in sequence, that of 31 Hen. I., is 
the oldest national document, except Doomsday book, now 
in existence. The student should make himself familiar with 
the Charter, Close, Hundred, Patent, Plea, and other Rolls. 
See Nos. VIII and X (p. 22 et seq.), and note to No. XV. 

LX 

RECORD COMMISSION PUBLICATIONS. 

Under the term "Records" Messrs. Gardiner and Mul- 
linger, in their exceedingly valuable little text-book English 
History for Students, include "(i) Inrolments which are 
intended to be official and authentic records of lawful acts 
made by the proper officer of any court upon rolls, or, in 
some case, in official entry-books of the same court; (2) 
Memorandum of acts or instruments brought into the proper 
office of any court by parties interested therein (or by their 
agents) eitlier in the form of rolls or otherwise, and pre- 



HISTORIANS, CATALOGUES, COLLECTIONS 21 

served in bundles or on files; (3) Books of entries, contain- 
ing memorandum of acts, etc., entered by officers of the 
court; (4) State papers, which form a distinct branch of the 
records." 

The publications of the Commission include The Corre- 
spondence of Henry VIII. (abstracted in No. XXII), The 
Statutes of the Realm (No. XLVIII, C, a), The Doomsday 
Book (No. XCI, D), Ancient Lazvs and Institutes (No. 
XCI, A), and various other important publications, notably 
indexes, catalogues, and transcripts. See Record Com- 
mission Catalogue (Macmillan & Co. will send on request). 
See Handbook to the Public Records, ed. F. S. Thomas, 
Lond. 1853, and Guide to Principal Classes of Documents 
preserved in Public Record office, ed. R. S. Bird. 

(ROLLS SERIES. See No. XXX.) 

LXI 

ROYAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY PUBLICATIONS. 

This society was founded in London, in 1868. Its publi- 
cations are varied in subject and of unequal value. They 
furnish, however, much information of importance that is 
not elsewhere obtainable. Consult the publications of the 
Royal Society (not to be confounded with No. LXI) for 
history of the progress of science. See note to No. XV, 

LXII 

SCOTTISH HISTORY SOCIETY PUBLICATIONS. 

This society was instituted, in 1886, at Edinburgh for the 
purpose of discovering and printing, under selected editor- 
ship, unpublished documents illustrative of the civil, religious, 
and social history of Scotland. Its publications are valuable. 
See note to No. XV. 

LXIII 

SCRIPTORES 

The items under this head are numerous. In the various 
series may be found, with scant exceptions, all the texts of 
the writers of the pre-printing epoch in English history. The 
student should be informed as to the contents of the various 
series and their critical value. See No. VIII. The names 
of the principal sets are here given. 

(a) Scriptores post Bedam, ed. Savile. London, 1596. 
Frankfort, 1601. 

(6) Scriptores Decern, Hist or ice Anglicancc, ed. Twys- 
den. London, 1652. 



22 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 



1 



■(c) Scriptorcs Reriim AngUcarum, ed. Fulman. Ox 
ford, 1684. 

{d) Scriptores XV, Historicc Britanmcce, Saxonicce, An- 
glo-Daniccr, ed. Gale. Oxford, 1691. 

(e) Scriptures Varii, Historic Anglicance, ed. Sparkes. 
London, 1723. 

(/) Scriptores Vetnstiores, Reriim Britannicarum, id 
est Anglice, Scoticu, vicinarumque insiilarum ac regionum, 
ed. Commelin. Heidelberg, 1587. 

(g) Scriptores N^ormannice, ed. Duchesne. Paris, 1619. 

(h) Scriptores Veteres reriim Hibernicarum, ed. O'Con- 
or. Buckingham, 1804- 1806. 

(i) Scriptores Rerum Danicarum Medii JSvi, ed. 
Langebek. Hafiniae, 1772. 

LXIV 

SELDEN SOCIETY PUBLICATIONS. 

This society was founded, in 1887, for the purpose of en- 
couraging the study and advancing the knowledge of the 
history of English Law. Its objects in detail are "the print- 
ing of manuscript and of new editions and translations of 
books having an important bearing on English legal history ; 
the collection of materials for dictionaries of Anglo-French 
and of law terms; the collection of materials for a history of 
English law," etc. etc. The works of the society are of the 
highest importance. See note to No. XV. 

LXV 

SPALDING CLUB PUBLICATIONS. 

This Club was instituted at Aberdeen, 1839, for the pur- 
pose of printing the historical, ecclesiastical, genealogical, 
topographical, and literary remains of the North-Eastern 
counties of Scotland. See Nos. VIII, X, and the society 
catalogues. In connection with Scottish history, see the 
Scottish Burgh Record Society (note to No. XV). 

LXVI 

SURTEES SOCIETY PUBLICATIONS. 

This society was instituted at Durham, 1834, for the pur- 
pose of publishing inedited manuscripts illustrative of the 
intellectual, the moral, the religious, and the social condition 
of those parts of England and Scotland included on the East 
. betw^een the Humber and the Firth of Forth, and on the West 
between the Mersey and the Clyde — the ancient kingdom of 
Northumbria. The publications of this society are interest- 
ing and of peculiar value within its chosen field. See Soc. 
Catgs., also Nos. VIII and X, and note to No. XV. 



HISTORIANS, CATALOGUES, COLLECTIONS 23 

LXVII 

THESAURUS NOVUS ANECDOTORUM: Complectens 
Re gum ac Principum, aliorumque Virorum illustrium Epis- 
tolas et Diplomata bene multa. Prodiit nunc primimi studio 
et opera Domni Edmundi Martene et Domni Ursini Du- 
rand . . . 1717. 

Contains much interesting material. For catalogue, see 
No. VIII, also No. LXIX. 

LXVIII 

TREATIES AND CONVENTIONS 

(A) RYMER'S FCEDERA: Fecdera, Conventiones, 
literce, et cujiiscnmque generis Acta Pnhlica, inter Reges 
AngUcc et alios quosvis Imperatores, Reges, Pontifices, 
Principcs, vel coiiiniuuitates . . .. ed. T. Rymer (14 vol.s.), 
R. Sanderson (last 6 vols.). London, 1704-35. Several 
other editions. The best is that edited by A. Clarke and 
others for Record Commission. The Series is indexed 
and commented upon in Syllabus of Documents in Rymer's 
Fa^dera, ed. T. D. Hardy. No. XXXI. 1869-85. 

Rymer's Foedera commences with iioi and concludes with 
1654. It is invaluable in its chosen field, which, as stated in 
the instructions to Thomas Rymer. the historiographer royal, 
was: the transcription and publication of all leagues, treaties, 
alliances, capitulations, and confederacies which had at any 
time been made between the crown of England and other 
kingdoms. The last volume of Foedera is not full, and the 
work must be supplemented by No. LXVIII. B. 

(B) DUMONT'S: Corps Universel Diplomatique du 
Droit des Gens: Contenant un Recueil des Trailer d' Al- 
liance, de Paix, de Treve, de Neutralite, de Commerce, 
d'Echange, etc., etc., depuis le Regne de VEmpereur Charle- 
magne jusqiies a present, par J. Dumont. Continued by 
Barbeyrac and Rousset. Amsterdam, 1739. 

This work continues the record of treaties from 315 to 
1730. Then consult No. LXVIII, C. See also Histoire des 
Traites de Paix et autrcs negotiations du dix-septieme sieclc, 
depuis la paix de Veruins jusqu'a la paix de Nimigue, Am- 
sterdam, 1725. Also Negotiations Secretes, The Hague, 
1725-1726. 

(C) WENCK'S: Corpus Juris Gentium Recentissimi e 
tabulariorum exemplorumque fide dignorum monumentis 



24 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

compositus . . . Fred. Aug. Gid. Wenkii . . .Tomus Primus 
continens diplomata hide ah anno MDCCXXXV usque ad 
annum MDCCXLII. Lipsce, MDCCLXXXI. [II, 1743 
to 1753. Ill, 1753 to 1772.] 

The student will next consult No. LXVIII, D. 

(D) MARTEN'S RECUEIL and continuations: Re- 
cueil de Traites d' Alliance, de Paix, de Trcve, de Neutra- 
lite, de Commerce, de Limites, d'Echange, etc., et plnsieurs 
autres actes servant a la connaissance des relations etran- 
geres des Puissances et cfats de I'Europe tant dans leiir 
rapport mutuel que dans celui envers les Puissances et 
etafs dans d'autres parties du Globe depuis I/61 jusqu'a 
present [770^]^ par Geo. Fred, de Martens. Second e edi- 
tion, revue et augmentce. Gottingen, 1817. 

{E) Nouveau Recueil . . . depuis 1808 jusqu'a present 
I18/4] .. .Martens [to 1817 continuations by Murhard, 
Samwer and Hopfe. 

(F) Nouveau Supplements an Recueil de Traites, by 
Murhard [covers 1761-1839]. 

(G) Nouveau Recueil General . . . Continuation du 
Grand Recueil [that of Martens et al.] . . . Deuxieme 
Serie [by Samwer, Hopfe and Stoerk]. Gottingen and 
Leipzig, 1876 et seq. Covers period from 1853 to date and 
still in progress. 

Full indexes and extensive supplements accompany these 
volumes (D) to (G) inclusive. 

(H) HERTSLET'S COMMERCIAL TREATIES: A 
Complete Collection of the Treaties and Conventions and 
Reciprocal Regulations at present subsisting between Great 
Britain and Foreign Pozuers and of the Lazvs, Decrees and 
Orders in Council concerning the same ; as far as they relate 
to Commerce and Navigation, to the Repression and Aboli- 
tion of the Slave Trade and to the Privileges and Interests 
of the subjects, of the high contracting parties. Compiled 
from authentic documents by Lezvis Hertslet, Librarian and 
Keeper of the Papers, foreign office. London, 1840- 1885. 

This important series has a full double index, arranged 
by subjects and by dates. Various other series of treaties 
have been published ; see note in Encyclopedia Britannica, 
9th edition. — At present, all treaties, not secret, are pub- 
lished in the London Gazette and in Parliamentary reports. 



HISTORIANS. CATALOGUES, COLLECTIONS 25 

LXIX 

VETERUM SCRIPTORUM et Monumentorum, Histori- 
corum, Dogmaticorum, Moralium, Amplissima Collect io. 
Complectcns Regiun et Principum alioriimque virormn 
illitstriiim Epistolas et Diplomata bene multa. Prodiit 
nunc primiiin stiidco et opera Domni Edmnndi Martcne, 
et Domni Ursini Durand, presbyterorum et monachonim 
Benedictinornm e Congrcgratione S. Mauri. Paris, 1724. 

Contains a mass of material. See No. LXVII. For con- 
tents, see No. VIII. 

LXX 

WELSH MANUSCRIPTS. 

The four principal societies for the publication of Welsh 
manuscripts are : 

(a) Cambrian Archaeological Association, inst. 1846. 

{b) Cambrian Institute, inst. 1853. 

(c) Cymmrodorion or Metropolitan Cambrian Institute, 

1751, revived 1820. 
(rf) Welsh Manuscripts' Society, inst. 1837. 
During the activity of these societies they published many 
valuable works. See No. VIII and No. X. For publica- 
tions, see note to No. XV. 

LXXI 

Year Books : Les reports des cases argue et adjudge . . . 
London, 1678-80. 

The scope of this series extends from Edw. II. to Hen. 
VIII. For year books antedating Edw. II., see No. XXXI. 
In this series also appear various Year Books of Edw. III. 

In addition to the series and collections given, the stu- 
dent is referred to the additional series and to the publica- 
tions of private presses, catalogued in Lowndes' Bibliog- 
rapher's Manual (No. X), Hardy's Descriptive Catalogue 
(No. VIII), Watt's Bibliotheca Britannica (No. IX), The 
English Catalogue (No. XI), and the Official Year Book 
of the Scientific and Learned Societies of Great Britain and 
Ireland. London, ann. since 1884. 



CHAPTER II 

SOURCES ARRANGED BY EPOCHS 

In the sections which follow an attempt has been made to 
group the most important and most accessible sources by 
epochs. The great collections given in section 2 and 3 are, 
with few exceptions, to be found at the university centres 
of the United States. The sources under sections 4 to 9 
inclusive are, in most cases, even more readily available. 
A¥hile no attempt has been, or could have been, made to 
render source material complete for any epoch, yet the student 
will find ample working bibliographies, and by consulting the 
volumes mentioned in sections i and 2, the lists given can be 
made exhaustive. 

SECTION 4. — THE PRE-NORMAN PERIOD 
LXXII 

MATERIALS FOR THE HISTORY OF BRITAIN: 
Monumenta Historica Britannica, ed. H. Petrie and J. 
Sharpe. London, 1848. Only one volume published. 

Indispensable for reprints of references to Britain in early 
Greek and Latin writers. Greek excerpts are translated. 
Contains copies of ancient inscriptions referring to Britain. 
Also ancient British and Roman coins, facsimiles of MSS, 
maps. Also texts of Gildas, Nennius, Bede, Short Chronicle 
of Northumberland, Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Asser, Chron- 
icle of Eathelward, Florence of Worcester, Simeon of Dur- 
ham, Ecclesiastical Register, Henry of Huntingdon, Cam- 
brian Annals, Geoffrey Gaimer, Chronicle of the Prince of 
Wales, Song of the Battle of Hastings. Full indices. 

LXXIII 

C^SAR, Commentaries on the Gallic War : Commentarii 
de hello Gallico. Many editions of both original text 
and its translation. 

26 



SOURCES ARRANGED BY EPOCHS 27 

Caesar's invasions of Britain, description of island and its 
inhabitants, accounts of the early Germans. For the latter 
subject, see also Tacitus, Germania. 

LXXIV 

TACITUS, Life of Agricola : Agricolcc vita. As of Csesar, 
many editions of this work and its translation are acces- 
sible. 

Activities of Agricola, Roman occupation of Britain, de- 
scriptions of island and its inhabitants, supplements Caesar. 

LXXV 

GILDAS : De Excidio Britannice. Text in Nos. LXXII, 
LIV, LXIX, XXXVIII, 1838, etc. Translations. Most 
accessible in Six Old English Chronicles. Bohn Library. 

Two parts: ist 55 B.C. to circa 383; 2nd to middle of sixth 
century. The work of Gildas forms ''the basis of early Eng- 
lish History." 

LXXVI 

BEDE, Ecclesiastical History of the English People : His- 
t erica Ecclesiastica Gent is Anglorum. Of the texts, a 
number of editions are accessible; I prefer edition in No. 
LXXII and in No. XXXVII. Of the several translations 
that by T. Miller in No. XXXVII is useful. 

Covers period from 55 B.C. to middle of eighth century. 
For this period the book is indispensable. 

LXXVII 

THE ITINERARY OF ANTONIUS: Itinerarium Anto- 
nini August i et Hieroslymitanum, ed. G. Parthey and M. 
Pinder. Berlin, 1848. 

Enumerates the towns and stations of Roman Britain with 
intervening distances. 

LXXVIII 

THE OFFICIAL LIST OF THE EMPIRE: Notitia Digni- 
tatuni et Administrationum omniiun taut Civilium quam 
Militarium in Partibus Orientis et Occidentis. Several 
edit, of texts; see that of O. Seeck. Berlin, 1876. 

Organization of Britain under Roman government. 



28 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

LXXIX 

NENNIUS' HISTORY OF BRITAIN: Eulogium BrittanicB 
sive Historia Britonum, auctore Nennio. Texts in Nos. 
LXIII; LXXII; XXXVIII. Also in several other edits. 
Trans. J. A. Giles. Six Old English Chronicles. London, 
1848. 

Valuable for Welsh history. Ends 688. For a discussion 
as to value of this work, see Nennius Vindicatus, H. Zim- 
mer, Berlin, 1893. 

LXXX 

ICELANDIC SAGAS, and other Historical Documents re- 
lating to the Settlements and Descents of the Northmen in 
the British Isles. Vols, iii-iv, G. W. Dasent, in No. 
XXXI. 

A collection of historical documents referring to descents 
and settlements of Northmen in Britain. See XIV First 
Supplement. 

LXXXI 

ANGLO-SAXON CHRONICLE: Various valuable editions 
of text, notably those of Tr. Gurney, Norwich, 1819; In- 
gram, London, 1823 ; Fetrie in No. LXXII ; Thorpe in No. 
XXXI; J. Earle, Oxford, 1865. 

This most valuable of national records extents from i a.d. 
to 1 1 54. Especially valuable from sixth century to close of 
Norman Conquest. 

LXXXII 

ASSER'S LIFE OF ALFRED : Annales Rerum Gestarum 
Alfredi Magni, Auctore Asserio Menevensi. Text, ed. 
Wise. Oxford, 1722. Also in Nos. LXXXII ; LXII D, etc. 
Tr. Six Old English Chronicles. London, 1848. 

Chronicle from 851-887. Events of Alfred's life. 

LXXXIII 

ETHELWERD'S CHRONICLE: Chronicon ^thehveardi 
ah Incarnatione Domini ad annum gy^. Text, Nos. LXIII 
a; LXXII B. Tr. in Six Old English Chronicles. Lon- 
don, 1848. 

Of some value for tenth century. 



SOURCES ARRANGED BY EPOCHS 29 



LXXXIV 



EMMA, QUEEN OF THE ENGLISH: Emmce Anglorum 
Regincc, Ricardi I. Ducis N ormannonim Filice, Enconium. 
Author unknown. Text, No. LIV and elsewhere. See 

No. vni. 

Vakiable for period from 1012 to 1040. 

LXXXV 

EDWARD THE CONFESSOR: Vita ^dnuardi Regis qui 
apud W cstnionastcriuui requiescit, cd. H. R. Luard in 
XXXL For other lives see same series, Lives of Edward 
The Confessor, and No. VHI. 

Lives of the Confessor; valuable for his period. 

LXXXVI 

ALCUIN'S LETTERS : Beafi Flacci Albini sen Alcuini 
Epistolcc. These are printed in many collections as well 
as by themselves. See No. VHL 

Relations between England and the Continent in eighth and 
ninth centuries. 

LXXXVII 

SIMEON OF DURHAM'S HISTORY OF THE KINGS 
OF ENGLAND : Sinieonis Diinelmensis Opera ct Collec- 
tanea, ed. T. Arnold, in No. XXXL Texts also in No. 
LXXII. 

Valuable for tenth century, particularly for events in 
Northumbria. Stops at 1130, 

LXXXVIII 

HENRY OF HUNTINGDON: Hcnrici Archidiaconi Hun- 
tindoniensis Historicu Angloruni, ed. T. Arnold. No. XXXL 

• Text also in Nos. LXlfla: LIV: XXXV, iii. 503; also 
LXXII. Trans., T. Forester. London (Bohn). 

Ballads and traditions not otherwise preserved. Details 
of history not elsewhere found. Ends with middle of twelfth 
century. 

LXXXIX 

WILLIAM OF MALMESBURY: Willielmi Monachi Mat- 
mesbnriensis de Gestis Re gum Anglorum, libri V et His- 
toricu Novellcc. Texts also in Nos. XXXVIII ; LIV, 179, 



30 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

959; XVIII, ii., pp. 1-49, vi. 77; LXIII a; XV, pp. 337-81 ; 
XXXI, and elsewhere. See No. VIII. Trans., J. Sharpe 
London (Bohn). 

High authority for Anglo-Norman period. Gives history 
of English bishops and monasteries from 597 to 1123 a.d. 

XC 

FLORENCE OF WORCESTER: Florentii Wigornensis 
Monachi Chronic on ex Chronicis ah Adventu Hengesti et 
Horsi in Britanniam usque ad Annum iii/, ed. B. Thorpe. 
No. XXXVIII, 1848. Text also in several editions. Por- 
tion from 450 to 1066 in No. LXXII. Trans., T. Forester. 
London. 

Of considerable value. Ends 11 16. 

XCI 

LAWS AND LEGAL DOCUMENTS. 

(A) Ancient Laws and Institutes of England, ed. B. 
Thorpe, for Record Commission. No. LX. 

Complete collection of laws and legal documents of Anglo- 
Saxon Period. Invaluable. 

Ancient Charters, royal and private, prior to A.D. 1066. 

See Rec. Comm. No. LX and Pipe Roll Soc. Publications 
No. LIX. 

(B) Codex Diplomaticus ^vi Saxonici, ed. J. M. 
Kemble. For No. XXXVII. 

A valuable collection of charters of Anglo-Saxon Period. 

(C) Cartularium Saxonicum, ed. W. de G. Gray. Lon- 
don, 1883. 

A collection of charters. The critical estimate of authen- 
ticity of documents is to be found in last volume. It is 
valuable. 

{D) Doomsday Book. Sen Liber Ccnsualis Willielmi 
Primi, ed. A. Farley and others. London, 1783-1816. 

This work is valuable. It should be consulted in connec- 
tion with Prof. Maitland's erudite work, Doomsday Book 
and Beyond. 

(E) Die Gesetse der Angelsachsen. R. Schmid. Leip- 
zig, 1858. Supplemented by Liebermann, Zu den Gesetsen 
der Angelsachsen in Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung, 
vol. V. Weimar, 1885. Germ. Abtheilung, pp. 198 ff. 



SOURCES ARRANGED BY EPOCHS 31 

The documents are given in their original language. Ger- 
man translation, critical explanations of value, and copious 
glossary is given. 

(F) Handbook to the Land-Charters and other Saxonic 
Documents, ed. J. Earle. Oxford, 1888. 
Useful book by a careful scholar. 

{G) Select Charters and other Illustrations of English 
Constitutional History, from the Earliest Period to the Reign 
of Edw. I., ed. W. Stubbs. Oxford, 1870, etc. 
The most valuable of the small collections. 

{H) Autotype Facsimiles of the Ancient Charters in 
British Museum, ed. E. A. Bond. London, 1873-78. 

These are interesting and suggestive volumes, and the 
most important of a class of works with which the student 
should become familiar. 

Ecclesiastical Documents, Laws, Councils, etc. See 
No. XXXIV. 

The student should consult Nos. XI, XIV, for late publi- 
cations in this and succeeding periods. Much valuable biblio- 
graphical material is to be found in periodicals, particularly 
of the class of v^hich the American Historical Magazine and 
English Historical Magazine are types. 

SECTION 5. — FROM THE CONQUEST TO THE 
CHARTER 

XCII 

BAYEUX TAPESTRY. Engraved facsimile, with notes 
by G. C. Bruce. The Society of Antiquaries. 

A valuable record of episodes in the life and times of 
William the Conqueror. See also Carmen de Bella Hastin- 
gensi, Guy of Amiens ; text in No. XXXII. 

XCIII 

EADMER'S HISTORY: Eadmeri Monachi Cantuariensis 
Historice Novorum sive sui scccidi Lihri VL London, 1623. 

Authority for career of Lanfranc and Anselm. Important 
for reigns of first two Norman kings. 

XCIV 

ORDERICUS VITALIS' ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY: 
Order ici Vitalis Angligence, cccnobii Uticensis monachi, 



32 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

Historic^ EcclesiasticcE, libri XIII. Ed. Prevost. Paris, 
1838. Also in Nos. LIV and LXIII g. Also Vitalis' His- 
toire de Normandie. Text, ed. Guizot. Paris, 1825-27. 
Eng. Trans, of both works, T. Forester. London (Bohn). 

Period of the Conquest and the early Norman Kings. Ex- 
tremely valuable for relations of Normandy and England, 
Norman history. 

xcv 

WILLIAM OF POITIERS' LIFE OF WILLIAM THE 
CONQUEROR: Gesta Guillelmi Diicis N ormannorum et 
Regis Anglorwu, a Guileliiio Pictavensi Lexoviorum, 
Archidiacono contemporanco scripta. Text in No. 
LXIII b, and No. LIV, vol. 149, p. 1216. 

For life of William I., 1036- 1067. There are several other 
accounts of the life of the Conqueror. See Scriptorcs Rerum 
gestarum Wilhclmi Conquestoris, etc., ed. J. A. Giles, London, 
1845. 

(WILLIAM OF MALMESBURY'S NEW HISTORY. Cf. 
preceding section; deals with period 1126-42. It favours 
the cause of Matilda. Translation.) 

XCVI 

LIFE OF KING STEPHEN : Gesta Stephani Regis Anglo- 
rum et Ducis Normannoniin. Author unknown, ed. R. 
Hewlett. Text in No. XXXI, also in No. XXXVIII, 1846. 
Trans., T. Forester. London, 1853 (Bohn). Bound with 
Chronicle of Henry of Huntingdon. 

Of limited value. 

XCVII 

THE HEXHAM CHRONICLES : Historia Johannis Prio- 
ns Hagiistaldensis Ecclesicc XXV. anno rum. Text ed. 
R. Howlett. No. XXXI, vol. iii. Historia pice meniorice 
Ricardi Prioris Plagiistaldensis, de Gestis Regis Stephani 
et de Bello Standardii. Text ed. R. Howlett. No. XXXI, 
vol. iii. Translation of both Chronicles in The Church 
Historians of England, vol. iv, pt. i. The Chronicle of 
Melrose will be found in same collection of translations. 

Reign of Stephen. 



SOURCES ARRANGED BY EPOCHS ZZ 

XCVII 

WILLIAM OF NEWBURY: Historia a Nonnannorum in 
Angliam ingrcssu usque ad aniiuin up/. Several editions 
of text, among them that of Hearne, Oxford, 1719. Trans. 
in Church Historians of England, vol. iv, pt. 2. 

Covers 1066-1198. Especially valuable for Reign of*Henry 

XCIX 

BENEDICT OF PETERBOROUGH: Bencdictus Abbas 
Pctroburgcnsis de vita et gcstis Hcnrici H ct Ricardi L, 
ed. Hearne. Oxford, 1735. Trans, and ed., W. Stubbs. 
No. XXXI. 1867. This work was probably written by 
Richard Fitz-Neal. 

"Indisputably the most important chronicle of the time." 
The preface to the edition by Bishop Stubbs is valuable. 

C 

ROGER OF HOVEDEN: Rogeri de Hoveden Annalimn, 
pars prior et posteriori. Text in Nos. LXIII a; XXIII; 
XXXI. 1868-71, etc. Trans. H. T. Riley. London, 1853 
(Bohn). 

Covers period from 732-1201. From 1170-1201 it is of the 
greatest importance. 

CI 

RALPH OF DICETO: Radulfi de Diceto Decani Londe- 
niensis Opera Historica, ed. W. Stubbs for No. XXXI, 
1876. Text also in No. LXIII, a, b; also No. XVIII. 

Reigns of Hen. II and Ric. I. Valuable. 

CII 

RICHARD OF DEVIZES: Chronicon Ricardi Divisiensis 
de Rebus gestis Ricardi Prinii, Regis Anglicc, ed. J. A. 
Giles. No. XXXVIII. 1841. 

Covers period 1 189- 1 192. Supplements preceding works. 

cm 

GIRALDUS CAMBRENSIS: Topographia Hibernia^; sive 
de Mirabilibus Hibcrnicr auctore Silvestro Gcraldo Cani- 
brense.. .Expugnatio PHbernicc, sive Historia vaticinalis 



34 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

Silvestris Giraldi Cambrensis. Iteriarium CambricB; Cam- 
bria Descriptio. Texts in Nos. XVJII, XXXI, etc. Trans. 
T. Forester, R. C. Hoare. T. Wright. London (Bohn). 

Valuable authority in fields covered. 

CIV 

GLANVILL: Tractatus de Legibus ct Consuetudinibus 
regni Anglicp, tempore Regis Henrici Secundi compositus. 
Text in various editions, e.g., ed. J. Rayner, London, 1780, 
and in No. LXIV. Trans. J. Beames. London, 1812, 

The first book on English Law. 
CV 

DIALOGUES ON THE EXCHEQUER : Dialogiis de Scac- 
cario, by Richard, Bishop of London. Text in Madox's 
History of the Exchequer; Stubbs' Constitutional Docu- 
ments. 

"An extraordinary mass of information on every important 
point in the development of constitutional principles before 
the great Charter." 

CVI 

STATUTES OF THE REALM from Original Records and 
Authentic Manuscripts Printed by Command of His Ma- 
jesty King George the Third. London, 1810. See 
XLVIII C a. 

Begin to be of value in this period. 
(THE FGEDERA: See Treaties No. LXVIII^.) 

SECTION 6. — FROM THE CHARTER TO THE 
REFORMATION 

CVII 

ROGER OF WENDOVER'S FLOWERS OF HISTORY: 
Rogeri de Wendover Chronica, sive Flores Historiarum, 
ed. H. R. Luard in No. XXXI, also in No. LXIII A. 
Trans. J. A. Giles. London, 1849 (Bohn). 

Source for period of Magna Charta, 1214-1235. 

CVIII 

MATTHEW PARIS: Matthcoi Parisiensis Monachi Sancti 
Albani, Chronica Majora, ed. H. R, Luard. No. XXXI. 



SOURCES ARRANGED BY EPOCHS 35 

1872-80. Matthcci Parisicnsis Historia Anglorum, sive, nt 
z'ltlgo dicitur, Historia Minor, ed. F. Madden. No. XXXI. 
1866-69. Trans, of period from 1235-73. J. A. Giles. 
London, 1852. From 1259 the work is by an author as to 
whose name authorities disagree. 

Continues Roger of Wendover. Source for 1235- 1273. 

ax 

WILLIAM RISHANGER'S CHRONICLE: Wilhelmi 
Rishanger Chronica et Annates, ed. H. T. Riley. No. 
XXXI. Also under title Contimiatio Matthcci ah anno 
J2^p ad usque annum 12/2 in Watt's adition of M. Paris. 
See also De Bellis Lezves et Eversham, or the Chronicle of 
William de Rishanger of the Baron's Wars. J. O. Halli- 
well for No. XXVI. 1840. Translation. Continuation in 
Matthew of Paris. 

Source for period 1259-1306. 

CX 

NICHOLAS TRIVET'S ANNALS: Annates sex Regum 
Anglicc qui a comitibus Andegavensihiis originem traxe- 
runt, ed. T. Hog. No. XXXVIII. 1845. 

Contemporary source for reign of Edward I. 

CXI 

CHRONICA MONASTERII, .S. Atbani, ed. H. T. Riley. 
No. XXXI. London, 1863-76. 

These chronicles contain valuable historical material of 
which the most important is contained in Vol. I, Walsing- 
ham's Historia Anglicana, 1272-1422 (valuable from 1377 to 
1395); II, Rishanger's Chronica et Annates, 1259-1307; III, 
Trokelowe and Blaneforde, Chr. et Ann., 1259-1296,1307-1324, 
1392-1406; IV, Gesta Abbatum, 793-1411, 

CXII 

MONASTIC ANNALS: Annates Monastici, ed. H. R. 
Luard. No. XXXI. 1864-69. 

Valuable sources. Covers period 1004-1432. Particularly 
refer to the reigns of John, Henry III., and Edward I. 

CXIII 

WALTER HEMINGFORD: Ctironica Walteri de Heming- 
burg, ed. H. C. Hamilton. No. XXXVIII. Text also in 
No. LXIII A ; also edition by Hearne, Oxon. 1731. 



26 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

Extends from 1066 to 1346. Extremely valuable for last 
hundred years, covered partly by Walter, partly by other 
hands. 

CXIV 

CHRONICLES OF LONDON. Various chronicles; con- 
sult No. XXVI for 1844, 1846, 1858; also No. XXXI for 
Munimenfa GildhaUce Londoniensis, ed. H. T. Riley. 

This contains laws, regulations, etc., as well as city trans- 
actions. Valuable from a political, economical, and social, 
as well as legal standpoint. 

cxv 

BRACTON: De Legihns et Consnetndinihus Anglicr, ed. T. 
Twiss. No. XXXI. 1878-83. Also several other texts. 
Translation. 

Indispensable for law of the thirteenth century. 

CXVI 

BRACTON'S NOTE BOOK. Ed. by T. W. Maitland. 
London, 1887. 

This work is of great importance, not only because of its 
being the first book on "case-law," but for the light it throws 
on the life of the thirteenth century. 

CXVII 

CORRESPONDENCE : Royal and other Historical Letters 
illustrative of the reign of Henry IIL, ed. W. W. Sherley. 
No. XXXI. 1862-66. Of the reign of Henry IV., ed. F. 
C. Hingeston: No. XXXI. i860. Edward IV., Richard 
III., and Henry VII., ed. J. Gairdner: No. XXXI. 

Letters of Bishop Grosseteste, illustrative of the Social 
Condition of his Time, ed. H. R. Luard : No. XXXI. 

Papal Letters are in several editions. See No. XXIV, H, I. 

CXVIII 

MO.NUMENTA BRITANNICA ex Antographis Romano- 
nun Pontificitm. Covers period 1216-1759; ed. by Marini. 

These letters are extremely valuable. They present infor- 
mation not elsewhere obtainable. 

CXIX 

ROBERT OF AVESBURY: Roherti de Aveshiiry, Historia 
de mirabilis gestis Edzvard Tertii, ed. Hearne, Oxen. 1720. 

Especially good for relations of England with France prior 
to the battle of Crecy. 



SOURCES ARRANGED BY EPOCHS 37 

cxx 

HIGDEN'S POLYCHRONICON: Polychronicon Ranulphi 
Higdcni, ed. C. C. Babington. No. XXXI. Translation 
by Trevisa, ed. by Babington, Churchill, and Liimby, ac- 
companies text. Text also in No. LXIII d. 

Contemporary source for first half of the fourteenth cen- 
tury. 

CXXI 

CAPGRAVE'S CHRONICLE: The Chronicle of England 
from the Creation to 141/, by John Cap grave, ed. F. C. 
Hingeston. No. XXXI. 1858. 

Very valuable for period 1328- 1388. 

CXXII 

THE BOOK OF THE NOBLE HENRYS: Johannis Cap- 
grave Liber de Illnstribus Henricis, ed. F. C. Hingeston. 
No. XXXI. 1858. Translation by same ed. 

The work is valuable for its later portion only. 

CXXIII 

ADAM OF USK'S CHRONICLE: Chronicon Adcc de Usk 
ed. with Translation by E. M. Thompson. London, 1876. 

Serviceable for 1377- 1404. 

CXXIV 

THOMAS ELMHAM'S LIFE OF HENRY V.: Thomce de 
Elmham Vita et Gesta Henrici Quinti, Anglorum Regis, ed. 
T. Hearne. 1732. Also in No. XXXI. For other lives 
consult No. XXXVITI, 1846, also Titi Livii Foro-Juliensis. 
l^ita Henrici Quinti, Regis Anglicr, ed. by Hearne. 1716. 

Of some value for period. 

cxxv 

THE CONCORDANCE OF HISTORIES: The New 
Chronicle of England and France, in tzvo parts, by Robert 
Fabyan, ed. H. Ellis. 181 1. 

Valuable for history of London during War of the Roses. 

CXXVI 

JOHN AMUNDESHAM'S ANNALS: Johannis Amundes- 
ham, Monachi Monasterii S. Albani, tit videtur, Annates, 
ed. Riley in No. XXXI. 

For period 1421-1440. 



38 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

CXXVII 

JOHN WHETHAMSTEDE'S REGISTER: Registrum 
Ahhatice Johannis Whethamstede, Ahbatis Monasterii 
Sancti Albani, iterum susceptcs, ed. Riley in No. XXXI. 

1452- 1461. The time of the War of the Roses. 

CXXVIII 

Letters and Papers illustrative of the Wars of the English 
in France during the Reign of Henry VI, ed. J. Stevenson. 
No. XXXI. 1861, 1864. This collection includes the An- 
nals and Collections of William of Worcester, the Chron- 
icle of Jean le Bel; the collection is continued by the same 
editor in Narratives of the Expulsion of the English from 
Normandy. 1449-50. No. XXXI. 1863. 

Valuable source. — The French text is translated. 
CXXIX 

FROISSART'S CHRONICLES: Chroniques, qui traitent 
des merveilleuses emprises . . en France, Angleterre, Bre- 
taigne, Burgogne, Escosse, Espagne, Portingal et cs 
Autres Parties, ed. J. A. C. Buchon. Paris, 1835. Many 
translations and editions. 

Most interesting. Covers period 1326-1400. 

cxxx 

MONSTRELET'S NARRATIVES : Chroniques d'Enguer- 
rand de Monstrelet, ed. J. A. Buchon. Paris, 1826, Sev- 
eral translations, one by T. Johnes. London, 1849 (Bohn). 

Begins where Froissart ends. Terminates 1467. 
See also Robert Blondel in No. XXXI, 1863. 

CXXXI 

HISTORIE OF THE ARRIVAL OF EDWARD IV. in 
England and the Finall Reconcrye of his Kingdomes from 
. Henry VI., ed. J. Bruce. No. XXVI. 1838. 

Valuable contemporary account. 

CXXXII 

PASTON LETTERS. Ed. by J. Gairdner. 1872-75. Other 
editions. 

1422-1509. Light on social life of period. Overrated 
source. The prefaces of the editor are more valuable than 
the sources. 



SOURCES ARRANGED BY EPOCHS 39 

CXXXIII 

CONTINUATION OF THE CROYLAND CHRONICLE: 
Petri Blesensis continuatio ad Historiam Ingulphi. Gale, 
Fell and Fulman's Scriptures; also elsewhere. Transla- 
tions. H. T. Riley. London, 1854 (Bohn). 

Important for reign of Edward IV. Not to be confounded 
with the Ingufian forgery. 

CXXXIV 

PECOCKS REPRESSOR: The Repressor of over much 
Blaming of the Clergy, ed. C. Babington. No. XXXI. 
i860. 

This work indicates the theological movement of the fif- 
teenth century. 

cxxxv 

LITTLE BUNDLE OF TARES: Fasciculi Zizaniorum 
Magistri Johannis Wyclif cum Tutico, ascribed to T. 
Netter; ed. W. W. Shirley. No. XXXI. 1858. 

The contemporary account of the rise of Lollardy. 
Strongly anti-Lollard. / 

CXXXVI 

WYCLIF' S WORKS. These have appeared in many edi- 
tions and by various editors. Among them. Select English 
Works, ed. T. Arnold. 1871. The English Works of 
Wyclif hitherto unprinted, ed. F. D. Matthew. No. 
XXXVII. 1880. 

CXXXVII 

MORE'S EDWARD V AND RICHARD III: Historic of 
the pitifull life and unfortunate death of Edzvard the Fifth. 
Also, The History of Richard the Third. In various edi- 
tions ; also in Kennett's Complete History of England. 
London, 171 9. 

Considered by S, R. Gardiner as a contemporaneous ac- 

coimt. 

CXXXVIII 

Grants, etc. From the Crown during the Reign of Edzvard 
The Fifth from the Original Docket-Book and Two 
Speeches for Opening Parliament, ed. J. G. Nichols. 1854. 

Of some value for a period not well illustrated. 



40 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

SECTION 7. — THE TUDOR PERIOD 

CXXXIX 

MATERIALS FOR A HISTORY OF THE REIGN OF 
HENRY VIL, ed. W. Campbell. No. XXXI. 1873, 1877. 

From original documents. Furnishes valuable material for 
the study of the reign. 

CXL 

POLYDORE VIRGIL: Polydori Vergilii Urhinatis Angli- 
cce Histori Lihri Vigintiseptem. Basel, 1534. Also in 
No. XXVI. Translation, first VIII books, in No. XXVI. 

Very high authority from the time of Henry VI., where 
contemporay record becomes scanty. Somewhat biassed, 
violently opposed to Wolsey, but otherwise accurate. Should 
be read in connection with No. CXLVIII. 

CXLI 

BERNARD ANDRE: Historia Regis Henrici Septimi a 
Bernardo Andrea Tholosate conscript a, necnon alia quce- 
dam ad eundem re gem spectantia, ed. J. Gairdner. No. 
XXXI. 1858. 

Best contemporary record of reign of Henry VII. It is to 
be found in Memorials of Henry VII, ed. J. Gairdner. No. 
XXXI, 1847. This work contains other valuable material. 

CXLII 

VENETIAN RELATION: A Relation, or rather a true 
account, of the Isle of England; with sundry particulars 
of the customs of these People and of the Royal Revenues 
under Kng Henry the Seventh about the year 1500. Trans- 
lation. No. XXVI. 1847. 

Political, commercial, financial data of reign of Hen. VII. 
CXLIII 

STATE PAPERS OF THE TUDOR PERIOD. The col- 
lection of manuscripts is extremely large. It has been in- 
dexed and epitomized in the various Calendars which have 
been issued by the Record Commission under the following 
title: Calendar of Letters and Papers, Foreign and Do- 
mestic, of the Reign of Henry VIII. ; Calendar of State 
Papers, Domestic Series, of the Reigns of Edzvard VI., 
Mary, Elisabeth, and James /.; Calendar of State Papers, 



SOURCES ARRANGED BY EPOCHS 4t 

Foreign Series, of the Reign of Edzvard VI.; Calendar of 
State Papers, Foreign Series, of the ReigJi of Mary; Calen- 
dar of State Papers, Foreign Series, of the Reign of Eliza- 
beth; Calendar of State Papers and Manuscripts relating 
to English Affairs preserved in the Archives of Venice 
and other Libraries of Northern Italy, 1202-i^Qi; Calendar 
of Letters, Despatches and State Papers dealing zvith the 
Negotiations between England and Spain, preserved in the 
Archives of Simancas and elsezvhere, 148^154^. Selec- 
tions from the State Papers of Henry VIII. have been 
issued by the Record Commission under the following 
titles : Domestic Correspondence; Correspondence Relating 
to Ireland; Correspondence Relating to Scotland; Cor- 
respondence between England and other Courts. See No. 
XXV. 

CXLIV 

HARPSFIELD'S TREATISE: The Pretended Divorce be- 
tween Henry VIII. and Catharine of Aragon, by Nicholas 
Harpsfield. No. XXVI, 1878, ed. N. Pococke. 

Written from the Catholic point of view. Consult also 
Reginald Pole's treatise de Unitate Ecclesice. 

CXLV 

RECORD OF THE REFORMATION. Oxford, 1870, ed. 
by N. Pococke. 

Valuable material for period 1527- 1533. 

CXLVI 

MORE'S UTOPIA: A truteful and pleasannt worke of the 
beste State of a publyque weale, and of the nezve yle called 
Utopia: Written in Latine by Syr Thomas More Knyght, 
and translated into Englyshe by Ralphe Robynson Citizein 
and Goldsmythc of London, at the procurement and earnest 
request of George Tadlozve Citizein and Haberdassher of 
the same city. London, 1551. Arbers' English Reprints 
1869, also other editions. 

Social and political evils and abuses of first half of the 
sixteenth century. 

CXLVII 

STARKEY'S ENGLAND in the reign of King Henry the 
Eighth, ed. S. J. Herrtage. No. XXXVII. 1878. 

Social and political evils and abuses of the sixteenth cen- 
tury. 



42 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

CXLVIII 

HALL'S CHRONICLE: Containing the History of England 
during the Reigti of Henry the Fourth and the succeeding 
Monarchs to the End of the Reign of Henry the Eighth, in 
which are particularly described the Manners and Customs 
of these Periods. Various editions. 1548, 1550, 1809. 

Should be considered with the work of Polydore Virgil, 
upon which it is very largely based. Virgil is bitterly op- 
posed to Woolsey and his partisans ; Hall flatters them. 
These books well illustrate the opposing parties of the reign 
of Henry VHL for which period they are contemporary 
sources. 

CXLIX 

HOLINSHED'S CHRONICLES of England, Scotland and 
Ireland. Various edits. First in 1557, 1586. 

Various Chronicles. Valuable sources. Last edition 
brings record to 1586. First edition contains passages sup- 
pressed in succeeding editions but printed separately in 1723. 



STOW, JOHN 

(a) A Summarie of the Chronicles of England dili- 
gently collected, abridged, and continued unto this present 
year of Christ 1604. London, 1604. 

(h) Annales or a Generall Chronicle of England. Be- 
gun by John Stow: Continued and augmented zvith mat- 
ters Foreign and Domestique, Ancient and Moderne, unto 
the end of this present yeere, 16^1. By Edmund Howes, 
Gent. London, 1631. 

(c) A Survey of the Cities of London and Westminister 
and the Burough of Southwark. Containing the Original, 
Antiquity, Increase, present State and Government of those 
Cities. Written at first in the Year i6p8 by John Stow, 
Citizen and Native of London. Corrected, improved, and 
very much enlarged in the Year 1/20 by John Strype, 
M. O. A native also of the said City. The Survey and 
History brought down to the present time by careful hands. 
With an appendix. London, 1754. Several other edits. 

These works of Stow are extremely valuable. Stow was 
unbiassed, well informed, and accurate in description. 



SOURCES ARRANGED BY EPOCHS 43 

CLI 

FOXE'S BOOK OF MARTYRS: History of the Acts and 
Monuments of the Church, by John Foxe. Many editions. 
among them that edited by J. Cummings. London, 1861. 

Covers Reformation period to 1559. Although strongly 
anti-Catholic, the history is valuable as a source. 

CLII 

ZURICH LETTERS. Ed. by H. Robinson. No. LVIL 

Vol. I contains from the Reformation to 1557; II, 1558- 
1579; III, 1558-1602. These letters have as their originals 
the Epistolcc Tigurina, so often cited by Froude. 

CLIII 

CHRONICLES OF THE GREY FRIARS OF LONDON. 
Ed. J. G. Nichols. No. XXVI. 1852. 

Valuable as source for religious tendencies of time. 

CLIV 

THREE CHAPTERS OF LETTERS relating to the Sup- 
pression of the Monasteries. Edited from the Originals 
in the British Museum. Ed. T. Wright. No. XXVT. 

1843- 

These letters possess interest as a contemporary private 
description of the suppression of the monasteries. 

CLV 

NARRATIVES OF THE DAYS OF THE REFORMA- 
TION, chiefly from the manuscripts of John Foxe the 
Martyrologist, zvith tzvo contemporary biographies of 
Archbishop Cranmer, ed. J. G. Nichols. No. XXVI. 1859. 
Interesting and occasionally valuable. 

CLVI 

LITERARY REMAINS OF KING EDWARD THE 
SIXTH, edited from his Autograph Manuscripts, zvith 
historical notes and a biographical memoir, by J. G. 
Nichols. Roxburghe Club. 1857. 

Especially interesting as containing the private journal of 
the young king. 

BIOGRAPHIES. For this period there are a number of 
valuable contemporary biographies of the principal per- 
sons of the day, notably of More, W^olsey, Carew, Eliza- 
beth. Consult catalogues under surname of person whose 
biography is desired. 



44 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

CLVII 

THE CHRONICLE OF QUEEN JANE and of Two Years 
of Queen Mary, and especially of the Rebellion of Sir 
Thomas Wyat, written by a resident in the Tower of 
London, edited with illustrative documents and notes by 
J. G. Nichols. No. XXVL 1850. 

The Authority for the days of "Jane the Queen." 

CLVIII 

THE HISTORY OF THE KIRK OF SCOTLAND by Mr. 
David Calderwood some time minister of Crailing, edited 
from the original manuscript preserved in the British 
Museum by T. Thomson. The Wodrow Society. Edin- 
burgh, 1 842- 1 849. Various editions. 

Covers period 15 14-1625. Strongly anti-episcopal. Whole 
work tinged with prejudice. 

CLIX 

HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND, begin- 
ning the Year of Our Lord 20^ and continued to the end 
of the reign of King James VI. By the Right Rev. John 
Spottiswoode, Archbishop of St. Andrew, and Lord Chan- 
cellor of Scotland, ed. M. Russell. Spottiswoode Society. 
Edinburgh, 1847. 

From beginning of 14th century it is most valuable as a 
source. It is moderate and fair in tone. 

CLX 

HARDWICKE PAPERS: Miscellaneous State Papers, ed. 
by Earl of Hardwicke. Front i^oi to 1/26. London, 1778. 

These papers are of great interest and value. In matters 
political they give a side light of great service to the student. 

CLXI 

THE COMPLEAT AMBASSADOR, or tzvo Treaties of 
the intended marriage of Queen Elisabeth of Glorious 
Memory; comprised in Letters of Negotiation of Sir 
Francis Walsingham, her Resident in France. Together 
with the Answers of the Lord Burleigh, the Earl of 
Leicester, Sir Tho. Smith, and others. Wherein, as in 
a clear Mirror, may be seen the Faces of the two Courts 
of England and France, as they then stood, with many re- 
markable passages of State, not at all mentioned in any his- 



'X 



SOURCES ARRANGED BY EPOCHS 43 

tory. Faithfully Collected by the truly Honourable Sir 
Dudley Deggs, Knight, late Master of the Roll. London, 

1655- 

Valuable as giving the personal expressions of some of the 
greatest men of the time. 

CLXII 

CABALA SIVE SCRINIA SACRA : Mysteries of State and 
Government, in Letters of Illiistrious Persons, and Great 
Ministers of State, as zvell Foreign as Domestick, in the 
Reigns of King Henry the Eighth, Queen Elizabeth, King 
James, and King Charles. Wherein such secrets of Em- 
pire, and Publick Affairs as zvcre then in Agitation are 
clearly Represented; and many remarkable Passages faith- 
fully collected. To zvhich is added in this Third Collection, 
a Second Part, consisting of a choice collection of Original 
Letters and Negotiations, never before published. London, 
1691. 

An interesting collection of correspondence. 

CLXIII 

THE SOMERS TRACTS : A Collection of Scarce and Valu- 
able Tracts, on the most Interesting and Entertaining Sub- 
jects; but chiefly such as relate to the History and Con- 
stitution of these Kingdoms. Selected from an infinite 
number in Print and Manuscript, in the Royal, Cotton, 
Sion, and other Public as zvell as Private Libraries, par- 
ticularly that of the Late Lord Somers. The Second Edi- 
tion Revised, Augmented, and Arranged, by Walter Scott. 
London, 1809. 

Principally valuable for the seventeenth century. Very 
extensive. 

CLXIV 

D'EWES JOURNALS of the Elizabethan Parliaments: 
The Journals of all the Parliaments during the reign of 
Queen Elizabeth, both of the House of Lords and House 
of Commons. Collected by Sir Simons D'Ezves of Stozv- 
Hall in the Country of Suffolk, Knight and Baronet. Re- 
vised and Published by Paul Bozves, of the Middle Temple 
London, Esq. London, 1682. 

Interesting and valuable. Incorporated in Cobbett (No. 



46 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

CLXV 

TOWNSHEND'S HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS: His- 
torical Collections: An Exact Account of the Proceedings 
of the Four Last Parliaments of Queen Elizabeth of Fa- 
mous Memory. Wherein is contained the Compleat Jour- 
nals both of the Lords and Commons, Taken from the 
Original Records of their Houses, as also the m,ore par- 
ticular Behaviours of the Worthy Members during all 
the last notable Sessions; comprehending the Motions, 
Speeches, and Arguments of the Renowned and Learned 
Secretary Cecill, Sir Francis Bacon, Sir Walter Razvleigh, 
Sir Edw. Hobby, and divers other eminent Gentlemen. 
Together with the most considerable Passages of the His- 
tory of those times Faithfully and Laboriously collected, 
by Heywood Townshend Esq., a Member in those Parlia- 
ments. The like never Extant before. London, 1680. 

Exhaustive account of proceedings of parliaments named 
in title. 

CLXVI 

BURLEIGH PAPERS: {A) A Collection of State Papers 
Relating to Affairs in the reigns of King Henry VIII., 
King Edward VI., Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth, 
From the Year 1542 to 1570. Transcribed from Original 
Letters and other Authentick Memorials, Never before 
published. Left by William Cecill Lord Burghley, and now 
remaining at Hatfield House, in the Library of the Right 
Honourable the present Earl of Salesbury, by Samuel 
Haynes, A. M. Rector of Hatfield in Hertfordshire. 
London, 1740. {B) A Collection of State Papers Relating 
to Affairs in the reign of Queen Elizabeth from the year 
i^yi to 1596. Transcribed from Original Papers and other 
Authentic Memorials never before published, left by Wil- 
liam Cecil Lord Burghley and Reposited in the Library 
at Hatfield House. By William Murdin, B. D. Rector 
of Morrow and Vicar of Shalford in Surrey. London, 
1759- 

Valuable for period 1542- 1596. 

CLXVII 

GRANVELLE PAPERS: {A) Papiers d'Etat du Cardinal 
de Granvelle d'apres les manuscrits de la Bibliotheque de 
Besangon, ed. C. Weiss. Paris, 1841. {B) Correspon- 



SOURCES ARRANGED BY EPOCHS 47 

dance du Cardinal de Granvelle, 156^ to 1586, by various 
editors, in Documents inedits sur I'Histoire de France. 
1877-1894. Bruxelles. 

Very important source for foreign relations during six- 
teenth century. 

CLXVIII 

THE FRENCH DISPATCHES: (A) Inventaire Chrono- 
logique des Documents Relatifs a I'Histoire d'Ecosse, ed. 
J. B. A. T. Teulet. Abbottsford Club. Edinburgh, 1839. 
{B) Relations Politiques de la France et de I'Espagne avec 
VEcosse ail XVI Siecle, ed. A. Teulet. Paris, 1862. Other 
editions. 

Valuable for accounts of negotiations between France and 
Scotland. 

CLXIX 

THE NOAILLES DISPATCHES: Amhassades de Mes- 
sieurs de Noailles en Angleterre, Vertot. Leyden, 1763. 

Contain accounts of plots against Queen Mary. 

CLXX 

LETTRES, INSTRUCTIONS ET MEMOIRES DE 
MARIE STUART, Reine d'Ecosse; piiblie sur les origi- 
naux et les manuscrits du State Paper office de Londres 
et des Principales Archives et Bibliotheques de I'Europe, 
et accompagnees d'lin resuuie chronologique par le Prince 
Alexandre Lahanoff. London, 1844. There are many 
editions of the letters of Mary Queen of Scots. Also sev- 
eral collections of historical materials. 

Throw much light on the character of the Queen of Scots. 

CLXXI 

LETTRES, INSTRUCTIONS ET MEMOIRES DE 
as regular, and of other Catholics, of both Sexes, that have 
suffered death in England on Religions accounts from the 
year of Our Lord ij/j to 1684, by R. Challoner. First pub. 
1741. Reprint, 1878, Edinburgh. 

This, and the work that follows, should be read in con- 
nection with Foxe's Book of Martyrs. Persecution and 
death was not the lot of one sect alone in the years of the 
Tudor Dynasty. 



4.8 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

CLXXII 

RECORDS OF THE ENGLISH PROVINCE OF THE 

SOCIETY OF JESUS : Historic Facts illustrative of the 

Labours and Sufferings of its Members in the Sixteenth 

and Seventeenth Centuries, ed. H. Foley. London, 1877. 

The Jesuit view of the religious persecutions. 

CLXXIII 

THE TROUBLES OF OUR CATHOLIC FORE- 
FATHERS, related by themselves, ed. J. Morris. Lon- 
don, 1872. 

Setting forth the sufferings of the Catholics in Protestant 
England. 

CLXXIV 

WINWOOD'S MEMORIALS: Memorials of Affairs of 
State in the Reigns of Queen Elisabeth and K. James I. 
Collected (chiefly) from the Original Papers of the Right 
Honourable Sir Ralph Winwood, Kt. Sometime one 
of the Principal Secretaries of State. Comprehending 
likewise the negotiations . . . at the Courts of France and 
Spain and in Holland, Venice, etc., ed. E. Sawyer. 1725. 
Chiefly valuable upon foreign relations, 1 596-161 3. 

CLXXV 

SELECT STATUTES AND OTHER CONSTITUTION- 
AL DOCUMENTS, illustrative of the Reigns of Elisa- 
beth and James I., ed. G. W. Prothero. Oxford, 1894. 

The best handy collection for the period covered. Profes- 
sor Prothero has in preparation a like volume devoted to 
the early Tudor Period. 

CLXXVI 

HARRISON'S DESCRIPTION OF ENGLAND. See 
Holingsheds Chronicle, a.d. 1577-87. Also Reprint ed. 
J. J. Furnival in New Shakspere Soc. Pubs. 

Excellent description of condition of English people in 
. latter part of sixteenth century. 

CLXXVII 

PHILLIP STUBBE'S Anatomy of the Abuses in England 
in Shakspere' s Youth, a.d. 1583. Reprint ed. by F. J. 
Furnival in N. S. Soc. Pubs. 

An Interesting arraignment of the sins of the time, 1583 to 
1595- 



SOURCES ARRANGED BY EPOCHS 49 



CLXXVIII 



WILLIAM STAFFORD'S Compendious or brief e Examina- 
tion of certayne ordinary Complaints of divers of our 
countrymen in these our dayes. a.d. 1549, ed. Elizabeth 
Lamoud. Cambridge, 1893. 

Deals with status of trade and agriculture. Important 
source. Has caused revision of various economic theories. 

SECTIONS. — THE STUGGLE FOR CONSTITUTIONAL 
GOVERNMENT 

CLXXIX 

CALENDARS OF STATE PAPERS. 

Furnish much valuable information. Have been issued 
of many of the public documents for the reigns of James I., 
Charles I., and Charles 11.. as well as for the period of the 
Commonwealth. Period of James H. in preparation. The 
student should keep himself informed regarding late publica- 
tions of this series. 

CLXXX 

KENNET'S Complete History of England; vol. v, Camden's 
Annals of King James /.; vol. vi, Wilson's History of 
King James I. Second ed., London, 17 19. 

A well edited and impartial collection. Covers period 
from earliest Britain to death of William HI. Made up of 
monographs upon various reigns. Most of the historirs in- 
cluded are of considerable value. Those after vol. W are 
most useful. 

CLXXXI 

COURT OF KING JAMES THE FIRST, by Dr. Godfrey 
Goodman, Bishop of Gloucester; to which are added, 
Letters illustrative of the personal history of the most dis- 
tinguished characters in the Court of that monarch and 
his predecessors, ed. J. S. Brewer. London, 1839. 

Written from a royalist standpoint. To be read in con- 
nection with works of Puritan authors, and balance struck. 

CLXXXII 

STATE PAPERS, and Miscellaneous Correspondence of 
Thomas, Earl of Melrose, ed. for No. XV by John Hope. 
Edinburgh, 1837. 

Covers period 1599- 1625. 



50 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

CLXXXII 

LETTERS from George Lord Carew to Sir Thomas Roe, 
Ambassador to the Count of the Great Mogul, i6iyi6iy, 
ed. J. Maclean. No. XXVI. i860. 

General summary and comment of events occurring 161 5 to 
1617. 

CLXXXIV 

THE HISTORY OF THE REBELLION AND CIVIL 
WARS IN ENGLAND, to which is nozv added an his- 
torical view of the affairs of Inland by Edward Emil of 
Clarendon (1625-1660). Oxford, 1842. See also State 
Papers collected by Edzvard, Earl of Clarendon, Commen- 
cing from the year MDCXXI. Containing the materials 
from which his history of the Great Rebellion was com- 
posed, and the authorities on which the truth of his rela- 
tion is founded. Oxford, 1767. See also Calendar of the 
Clarendon State Papers preserved in the Bodleian Library. 
1623-57. Oxford, 1872-76. 

Principally devoted to period 1641-1660, Royalist in bias. 
Important source. 

CLXXXV 

MEMORIALS AND LETTERS relating to the History of 
Britain, {A) in the reign of James the First, 26. ed., 1756. 
(B) in the reign of Charles the First. Published from the 
originals. The second edition corrected and enlarged by 
Sir David Dalrymple, Lord Hailes. Glasgow, 1766. 

Anti-royalist. Compare with No. CLXXXI. 

CLXXXVI 

PROCEEDINGS IN PARLIAMENT: Parliamentary De- 
bates. 1610, ed. S. R. Gardiner. No. XXVI, 1862. Pro- 
ceedings and Debates. 1620-21 ; in Parliamentary His- 
tory, vol. V. London, 1763. Notes of Debates. 1621, ed. 
S. R. Gardiner. No. XXVI. 1870. 1624-26, same ed. 
No. XXVI. 1879. 1625, same ed. No. XXVL 1874; 
1618-29. Rushworth Collections. London, 1659; Somers 
Tracts supra; Protests of the Lords. 1624-1874, ed. J. T. 
Rogers. Oxford, 1875. See also edit, of London, 1767. 
1640-53. The History of the Parliament of England 
which began Nov. 2, 1640; T. May. Oxford, 1854. Notes 



SOURCES ARRANGED BY EPOCHS 51 

of Proceedings in the Long Parliament, temp. Charles I., 
by Ralph Verney, ed. J. Bruce. No. XXVI. 1845. ^ 
Collection of acts and ordinances of General Use, etc., by 
H. Scobell. London, 1658. 
- See also No. XXX and No. LXII. 

CLXXXVII 

VERNEY PAPERS: Letters and Papers of The Verney 
Family down to the end of the year i6^p. Printed from 
the original MSS. in the possession of Sir Harry Verney, 
Bart, ed. J. Bruce. No. XXVI. 1851. 

This volume is one of a number devoted to the period of 
the Puritan Revolution and published in No. XXVI, the 
catalogue of which should be consulted. 

CLXXXVIII 

WALKER'S DISCOURSES: Historical Discourses upon 
Several Occasions . . .by Sir Edward Walker. London, 

1705- 

Mainly valuable for negotiations between Charles I. and 
Parliament, in 1648, in Isle of Wight. 

CLXXXIX 

ENGLAND'S RECOVERY: Anglia Rediviva; England's 
Recovery, being the History of the motions, actions and 
successes of the army tinder the immediate conduct of his 
excellency Sir Thomas Fairfax, ed. J. Sprigg. New edit. 
Oxford, 1854. 

"The acts of Fairfax and his independent army till the 
reduction of Oxford and the King." 

cxc 

LETTERS OF KING CHARLES THE FIRST to Queen 
Henrietta Maria, ed. J. Bruce. No. XXVI. 1856. 

Written in 1646. Show the double-dealing of the King. 

(RYMER'S Focdera: See No. LXVIII A.) 

(DUMONT'S Corps Universel Diplomatique du Droit des 
Gens: See No. LXVIII B.) 

CXCI 

CONSTITUTIONAL DOCUMENTS OF THE PURITAN 
REVOLUTION {1623-1660), ed. S. R. Gardiner, 2d ed. 
Oxford, 1899. 

For the period covered, the most suitable single-volume 
collection for university use. 



52 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

CXCII 

BURTON'S CROMWELLIAN DIARY: Diary of Thomas 
Burton, Esq., Member in the Parliaments of Oliver and 
Richard Cromwell from 1656 to i6^p; noiu first published 
from the original autograph manuscript. With an intro- 
duction containing an account of the Parliament of 16^4 
from the Journal of Guibon Goddard, Esq., M.P., also now 
first printed, ed. J. T. Rutt. London, 1828. 

Valuable for proceedings of the parliament of the Com- 
monwealth. 

CXCIII 

BURNET'S HISTORY OF HIS OWN TIME: with notes 
by the Earls of Dartmouth and Hardwicke, Speaker 
Onslow, and Dean Szvift, etc. Oxford, 1823. Several 
other editions. 

1660-1713. Much chaff, some wheat, 

CXCIV 

KENNET'S REGISTER: A Register and chronicle eccle- 
siastical and civil: containing matters of fact, Delivered 
in the words of the most authentick Books, Papers, and 
Records ; Digested in exact Order of Time, ivith proper 
Notes and References Tozvards discovering and connecting 
the True History of England From the Restauration of 
King Charles II. Vol. I (only one printed). London, 
1728. 

1660-1662. "A valuable collection of materials." 

cxcv 

ANGLIC NOTITIA or, t4ie Present State of England com- 
pleat. Together with Divers Reflections upon the ancient 
state thereof, by Edw. Chamberlayne. Many editions. 
First edition London, 1669. 

On the institutions, customs and social life of England. 

CXCVI 

EVELYN'S DIARY: Diary and Correspondence of John 
Evelyn. To zvhich is subjoined The Private Correspon- 
dence between King Charles I. and Sir Edward Nicholas, 
and between Sir Edward Hyde, afterwards Earl of Claren- 
don, and Sir Richard Browne, ed. from the original MSS. 
at Wollon by Bray and Wheatley. London, 1879. 

1620-1706. "A storehouse of illustration as regards the 
political, literary and scientific movements of his age." 



SOURCES ARRANGED BY EPOCHS 53 

CXCVII 

PEPYS'S DIARY: The Diary of Samuel Pepys .. .Tran- 
scribed from the shorthand manuscript in the Pepysian 
Library Magdalene College Cambridge by M. Bright, with 
Lord Braybrooke's Notes, ed. H. B. Wheatley. London, 
1893. Several other editions. Wheatley's edition (1893), 
though the most exhaustive, is not as suitable for students' 
use as are earlier editions. See Braybrooke's ed., Lond. 

1893- 

An interesting, though, from an historical point of view, 
overrated source. 

CXCVIII 

LUTTRELL'S DIARY: A Brief Historical Relation of 
State Affairs from September 16/8 to April 1/14, by Nar- 
cissus LuttreU. Printed from MS. in Library of All Souls' 
College, Oxford, 1857. 

A methodical narration of contemporary events. 

CXCIX 

ELWOOD'S HISTORY: The History of Thomas Ehvood, 
zvritten by himself, ed. Morley. London, 1886. 

Valuable for information regarding the "Friends" under 
Charles II. See also Stephen Crisp and his Correspondence, 
London, 1892; The Pcnns and Pcnningtons of the 17th 
Century. 

CC 

WHITELOCK'S MEMORIALS : Memorials of the English 
Affairs {A) from the supposed Expedition of Brute to 
this Island to the End of the Reign of King James the 
First, by Sir Bidstrode Whitelock. London, 1709. {B) 
From the beginning of the Reign of King Charles the 
First to the Happy Restoration of King Charles the Sec- 
ond, by Bidstrode Whitelock. Oxford, 1853. First com- 
plete edition. Lond. 1732. Avoid ed. of 1682. 

{B) is valuable as "containing the public transactions, 
civil and military, together with the private consultations 
and secrets of the Cabinet." 

CCI 

THURLOE PAPERS : A Collection of the State Papers of 
John Thurloe, Esq.; Secretary, First, to the Council of 
State, and afterzvards to the Tivo Protectors, Oliver and 



54 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

Richard Cromwell . . . Containing Memorials of the Eng- 
lish Affairs from the year 16^8 to the Restoration of King 
Charles II. Published from the originals, ed. T. Birch. 
London, 1742. 

Thurloe's position gave him unusual facilities, which he 
successfully employed. 

ecu 

NALSON'S COLLECTION: An Impartial Collection of 
the Great affairs of State from the Beginning of the 
Scotch Rebellion in the Year MDCXXXIX. To the Mur- 
ther of King Charles I. Taken from Authentic Records, 
and Methodically Digested by lohn Nalson, LL.D. Lon- 
don, 1682. 

Ultra-royalist. Well expresses views of extreme court 
party. 

CCIII 

ORMONDE PAPERS: A Collection of Original Letters 
and Papers concerning the Affairs of England, from the 
year 1641 to 1660, found among the Duke of Ormonde's 
Papers, ed. T. Carte. London, 1739. See also Contem- 
porary History of Affairs in Ireland, 1641-52, ed. J. T. Gil- 
bert for the Irish Archaeological and Celtic Society. 1879. 
Also Memoirs of Denzil Lord Holies. From the year 
1641-1648. London, 1699. 

Valuable for history of Ireland. See Nos. XLVII and 
LVI and the publications of J. Grasco, J. Gutch, R. Lascelles, 
R. Theiner and others. 

CCIV 

GUTHRY'S MEMOIRS: The Memoirs of Henry Guthry, 
late Bishop of Dunkeld, in Scotland: wherein the Con- 
spiracies and Rebellion against King Charles I. of Blessed 
Memory To the time of the Murther of that Monarch are 
briefly and faithfully related. London, 1702. 

An impartial narration. Useful for period. 

ccv 

DALRYMPLE'S MEMOIRS: Memoirs of Great Britain 
and Ireland from the Dissolution of the last Parliament of 
Charles II. until the sea-battle off La Hague, by Sir lohn 
Dalrymple. 2d edition. London and Edinburgh, 177 1. 

Consisting chiefly of lej^ters from the French Ambassadors 
in England to their Courts and from Charles II., James II., 



SOURCES ARRANGED BY EPOCHS 55 

King William and Queen Mary, and the Ministers and 
Generals of those Princes, from the originals. 

SECTION 9. — THE HANOVERIAN PERIOD 

CCVI 

D'AVAUX'S DISPATCHES: The Negotiations of Count 
D'Avmix, Ambassador from the Most Christian King, 
Lezvis XIV. to the States General of the United Provinces, 
containing besides the secret History of the Rise and Mo- 
tives of the Duke of Monmouth's Rebellion, the Steps 
taken by the Prince of Orange to ascend the Throne of 
Great Britain; and the Intrigues of the Court of France 
to counteract his measures during that interesting Period. 
Translated from the French. London, 1754-55. 

Interesting and valuable for inner history of movements 
described. See also Negotiations de M. le Cointc d'Avanx 
en Ireland, dcpuis 1689 jusqu'en 1690. Priv. print., Lond., 
1830. 

CCVII 

DE COMINGE'S CORRESPONDENCE: A French Am- 
bassador at the Court of Charles II. Translated by J. J. 
Jusserand, N. Y. and London, 1892. 

A vivid picture of diplomacy and intrigue at Charles' 
court. 

CCVIII 

RELIQUI^ BAXTERIAN^: or Mr. Richard Baxter's 
Narrative of the most Memorable Passages of his life and 
Times. Faithfully published from his own original manu- 
script by Matthezv Sylvester. London, 1696. 

Written from the independent standpoint. Deals with 
people rather than politics. 

CCIX 

NORTH'S LIVES OF THE NORTHS : The Lives of the 
Right Hon. Francis North, Baron Guilford, Lord Keeper 
of the Great Seal binder King Charles II. and King James 
II.; The Hon. Sir Dudley North, Commissioner of the 
Customs and afterwards of the Treasury, to King Charles 
II. and The Hon. and Rev. Dr. John North, master of 
Trinity College, Cambridge, and clerk of the Closet to 
King Charles II. by The Hon. Roger North. New ed. 
London, 1826. 

Taking the brothers North as examples of their class, the 
book well illustrates the manners and motives of the time. 



56 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

ccx 

DRYDEN : The Works of John Dryden, ed. Walter Scott. 
Edinburgh, 1821. 

The poUtical works of Dryden ilhistrate the controversial 
literature of the royalist type, as do those of Milton the 
Puritan. 

CCXI 

MONMOUTH'S REBELLION: Some Sources of History 
for the Monmouth Rebellion and the Bloody Assizes, ed. 
A. L. Humphreys. Taunton, 1893. 

May be supplemented by The Bloody Assizes, A Compleat 
History of the Life of George, Lord Jeffries, ed. Goldsmith. 

CCXII 

SHREWSBURY'S CORRESPONDENCE: Private and 
Original Correspondence of Charles Talbot, Duke of 
Shrewsbury, with King William, the Leaders of the Whig 
Party, and other disting^iished statesmen . . ., ed. W. Coxe. 
London, 1821. 

Part I. Correspondence with William to 1700. Part 2. 
With Admr. Russell in 1695-96, with Galway in 1695-96 on 
Grand Alliance. Part 3. Confidential correspondence with 
Sunderland, Somers, Wharton, Russell, Oxford and Halifax 
1695- I 704. 

CCXIII 

MACPHERSON PAPERS : Original Papers containing the 
Secret History of Great Britain from the Restoration to 
the accession of the House of Hanover, To which are pre- 
fixed extracts from the life of James II. as written by him- 
self, ed. J. Macpherson. London, 1775. Other editions. 

Worthy of study, although tainted by suspicion engendered 
by the Ossianic forgeries. 

CCXIV 

STATE TRACTS : A Collection of State Tracts Published 
on occasion of the Late Revolution in 1688 and during the 
Reign of King William III. To zvhich is prefixed The 
History of the Dutch War in 16/2. Translated from the 
French Copy printed at Paris in 1682, which was supprest 
at the instance of the English Ambassador, because of the 
Discoveries it made of the League betwixt the Kings of 
France and England for enslaving Europe, and intro- 
ducing the Popish Religion into their Kingdoms, and the 
United Provinces. London, 1705. 

A curious book, illustrating the spirit of the times. It em- 
bodies much of the work of the pamphleteers. 



SOURCES ARRANGED BY EPOCHS 57 

ccxv 

CARSTARE'S STATE PAPERS AND LETTTERS : 
State-Papers and Letters addressed to William Carstares, 
confidential Secretary to K. William during the whole of 
his Reign; afterwards Principal of the University of Edin- 
burgh. Relating to Public Affairs in Great-Britain, but 
more partictdarly in Scotland, during the Reigns of K. 
William and Q. Anne . . . Published from the originals by 
J. McCormick, Edinburgh, 1774. 

A carefully compiled volume of some value. 

CCXVI 

DEAN SWIFT : The Works of Jonathan Szvift DD. Dean 
of St. Patricks, Dublin; Containing additional Letters, 
Tracts and Poems, not hitherto Published; zvith notes, and 
a life of the author, by Walter Scott Esq. Edinburgh, 
1814. 

In the works of Swift we find some of the most valuable 
material for this period. History of the Four Last Years 
of Queen Anne's Reign and Journal to Stella are particularly 
important for period covered. See also therein : On the 
Conduct of tJic Allies, on national policy; Tale of a Tub, 
satire on ecclesiastical quarrels ; Drapicr Letters, etc., etc. 

CCXVII 

BOLINGBROKE: The Works of the Right Honourable 
Henry St. John, Lord Viscount Bolingbroke. 5 vols., ed. 
O. Mallet. London, 1754. Letters and Correspondence, 
public and private, of Lord Bolingbroke, ed. G. Parke. 
London, 1798. 

Valuable although marred by partisanship and self-justifi- 
cation. 

CCXVIII 

BOYER'S HISTORY OF QUEEN ANNE: The History 
of Queen Anne, zvherein all the Civil and Military Trans- 
actions of that memorable Reign are faithfully compiled 
from the best Authorities. The whole intermixed zvith 
Several authentic and remarkable Papers; together zvith 
all the more Important Debates in Parliament ; A compleat 
IJst of the most Eminent Persons zvho died in the course 
of this Reign; zvith proper characters of those zvho ren- 
dered themselves most conspicuous in Church and State, 
ed. A. Boyer. London, 1735. 

Useful as an accessible source. 



58 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

CCXIX 

OLDMIXON'S HISTORY: The History of England Dur- 
ing the reigns of King William and Queen Mary, Queen 
Anne and King George I. Being the sequel of the Reigns 
of the Stuarts , . ., ed. J. Oldmixon. London, 1735. 

Though coloured by violent partisanship of the Whig pol- 
icy, this is a useful source. It contains extracts from Parlia- 
mentary Debates and from political publications. 

ccxx 

RAPIN'S HISTORY OF ENGLAND CONTINUED: The 
History of England by Mr, Rapin de Thoyras. Continued 
■from the Revolution to the Accession of King George II., 
ed. N. Tindal. London, 1747. The work was extended to 
include reign of George II and was republished Lend. 1757. 

Impartial, accurate, and comprehensive. Covers period 
1 649- 1 820. 

CCXXI 

FLETCHER OF SALTOUN : The Political Works of An- 
drew Fletcher, Esq. Reprint, Lond. 1732. 

Opinions of party opposed to union between England and 
Scotland. 

CCXXII 

HERVEY'S MEMOIRS : Memoirs of the Reign of George 
the Second from his accession to the Death of Queen 
Caroline.. .By John, Lord Hervcy, ed. from the original 
mss. by J. W. Croker. London, 1848. 

1737-1742. Court Life and the inner political management. 
Valuable source. 

CCXXIII 

KER'S MEMOIRS: The Memoirs of John Ker of Kersland 
in North Britain Esq.; containing His secret transactions 
and negotiations in Scotland, England, the Courts of 
Vienna, Hanover, and other Foreign Parts. With an ac- 
count of the Rise and Progress of the Ostend Company in 
the Austrian Netherlands. London, 1726. 

Ker was a secret agent of the Government, and his work 
not only throws light upon the policy of the Ministry, but 
gives a clear idea of the methods of the service in which he 
was engaged. 

CCXXIV 

LETTERS OF WILLIAM III. AND LOUIS XIV. and of 
their ministers, illustrative of the Domestic and Foreign 



SOURCES ARRANGED BY EPOCHS 59 

politics of England from the Peace of Ryswick to the ac- 
cession of Phillip V. of Spain. i6<)j-i'/00, ed. P. Grimblot. 
London, 1848. 

Useful in the field indicated in title. 

ccxxv 

CALENDARS: of Home Office Papers of the Reign of 

George HI. 1760-65; 1766-6^; i'/6o-'/2; of Treasury 

Papers, 1557-17^0. London, 1878-81. See No. XXV. 
Extremely valuable. 

CCXXVI 

BEDFORD CORRESPONDENCE: Correspondence of 
John, Fourth Duke of Bedford; selected from the original 
at Wohurn Abbey. With an introduction by Lord John 
Russell. London, 1842-46. 

Generally useful for political history in period 1742-1770. 

CCXXVII 

PITT CORRESPONDENCE: Correspondence of William 
Pitt, Earl of Chatham . . . published from the original 
manuscripts. London, 1838. 

Covers period 1741-1778. The position of the writer en- 
ables him to give much information not elsewhere obtain- 
able. 

CCXXVIII 

THE GRENVILLE PAPERS : being the correspondence of 
Richard Grenville, Earl Temple, K.G., and the Rt. Hon. 
George Grenville, their friends and contemporaries. Ed. 
W. J. Smith, Lond., 1852. 

Begins 1742. Particularly important after 1755. 

CCXXIX 

ROSE CORRESPONDENCE: Diaries and Correspondence 
of the Right Hon. George Rose; containing original 
Letters of the most disingulshed statesmen of his day, ed. 
L. V. Harcourt. London, 1860-62. 
Period of 1782- 181 5. Useful. 

CCXXX 

AUCKLAND CORRESPONDENCE: The Journal and 
Corespondence of William, Lord Auckland, ed. The Bishop 
of Bath and Wells. London, 1861-62. 

Period of 1782-1814. Scholarly and impartial. 



6o SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY ^H 

ccxxxi ■ 

MEMOIRS OF THE LAST TEN YEARS OF THE 
REIGN OF GEORGE IL, hy Horace Walpole. London, 
1822. Also Memoirs of the Early Reign of George III, 
hy Horace Walpole, ed. from original MSS. by D. Le 
Marchant. London, 1845. Also Correspondence of, ed. 
Cunningham. London, 1840-51, and 1888. Also Journal 
of the Reign of George III [i 771 -1783], ed. Doran. Lon- 
don, 1859. Also Letters of, ed. C. D. Yonge, 1891. 
The standard source for the period. 

CCXXXII 

ANNUAL REGISTER, or a viezv of the History, Politics 
and Literature for the year 1758. (Continued to date.) 

Each volume of this important series contains a summary 
of the principal events of the year in England and foreign 
countries. Particular attention given to parliamentary pro- 
ceedings. Texts of important acts and treaties are often 
quoted. Although in many cases the editor shows bias, this 
is so readily perceptible as to be of little disadvantage. 

CXXXIII 

CAVENDISH'S DEBATES: Henry Cavendish's Debates 
of the House of Commons During the Thirteenth Parlia- 
melit of Great Britain, commonly called the Unreported 
Parliament ; to which are appended Illustrations of the 
Parliamentary History of the Reign of George the Third; 
consisting of unpublished letters. Private Journals, Me- 
moirs, etc. Drawn up from the original manuscripts by 
J. Wright. London, 1841-43. 
Covers period 1 768-1 771. 

CCXXXIV 

BUBB DODINGTON'S DIARY: The Diary of the late 
George Bubb Dodington, from Mar. 8, 1/48-4^ to Feby. 6, 
i'j6i. With an Appendix containing many curious and 
interesting Papers referred to in the Diary. Ed. H. P. 
Wyndham from, the original MSS. 14th edition. 1809. 
Useful for period 1 748-1 761. 

ccxxxv 

NORTH CORRESPONDENCE: The Correspondence of 
King George the Third zvith Lord North from 1/68-1/8^, 
ed. from the originals by W. B. Donne. London, 1867. 
Period of 1768- 1783. 



SOURCES ARRANGED BY EPOCHS 6i 

CCXXXVI 

MALMESBURY CORRESPONDENCE: Diaries and Cor- 
respondence of James Harris, First Earl of MaUnesbury ; 
containing an account of His Mission to the Courts of 
Madrid, Frederick the Great, Catherine the Second, and 
the Hague ; and his special missions to Berlin, Brunswick 
and the French Republic, ed. Earl of Malmesbury. Lon- 
don, 1844. 

Period of 1 767-1 797. 

CCXXXVII 

BURKE'S WORKS : The Works and Correspondence of 
Edmund Burke. London, 1852. Speeches of, Lond. 1859. 

For missing correspondence, completing this valuable 
source, see T. Macknight's Life and Times of Edmund 
Burke, London, 1858-1861. 

CCXXXVIII 

CORNWALLIS CORRESPONDENCE : Correspondence 
of Charles, First Marquis Cornzvallis. Ed. C. Ross, Lond., 
1859. 

Period of 1776-1806. Colonial affairs. 

CCXXXIX 

MEMOIRS OF THE COURT AND CABINETS OF 
GEORGE THE THIRD. From original family docu- 
ments by the Duke of Buckingham and Chandos. Lon- 
don, 1853-55. 

Period of 1782-1800. Valuable for letters of eminent per- 
sons. 

SECTION 10. — THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 

The source material for the study of the history of the 
Nineteenth Century is so voluminous as to preclude even an 
attempt to outline its resources within the limits of the space 
at command. The student will, however, by following the 
bibliographical lines indicated for preceding periods, have 
no difficulty in securing an ample supply of material for the 
study of recent history. 



PART II 

THE PRE-NORMAN PERIOD 

(425 B.C. TO 1066 A.D.) 



63 



CHAPTER III 

THE BRITAIN OF THE ANCIENTS 



II. First Mention of the Islands afterwards called British 

Herodotus 

Herodotus (b. circa 484 B.C.; d. 408 B.C.?) was the earliest 
Grecian historian. His History contains the first authentic allu- 
sion to the British Islands. The form of the reference indicates 
that definite knowledge of the *'Tin Islands," — the Cassiterides, 
generally believed to be the British Islands, — was current among 
the trading countries of the Mediterranean at a period somewhat 
earlier than that of Herodotus. 

Of the extremities of Europe towards the west I cannot 
speak with certainty, . . . nor am I acquainted with the islands 
Cassiterides, from which tin is brought to us. 

{Herodoti Historiaruvt libro HI" § 115, ed. Abicht-Kallenberg, Teubner Text 

Leipsic, 1890.) 

12. First Mention of the Islands by Name 

Aristotle 

Aristotle (b. c'lrca 384 b.c. : d. 2^22 b.c. ?) Controversies have 
more than shaken the belief that The Universe was written by 
Aristotle; yet the undoubted antiquity of the work justifies the 
insertion of the excerpt given below. If we accept the attribution 
of The Universe to the great Stagirite we may confidently assert 
that therein is contained the earliest recorded allusion by name to 
the British Islands. 

Without which [the Pillars of Hercules] the ocean flows 
round the earth; in this ocean, however, are two islands, and 
those very large, called Bretannic, Albion and lerne, which 
are larger than those before mentioned and lie beyond the 
Celti ; and other tw^o not less than these, Taprobane, beyond 
the Indians, lying obliquely in respect of the main land, and 
that called Phebol, situate over against the Arabic Gulf; 
moreover not a few small islands, around the Bretannic Isles, 
and Iberia, encircle as with a diadem this earth, which we 
have already said to be an island. 

{Aristoteles de Mundo capite iii, Prussian Royal Academy. Ed. , Berlin, 183 1-70.) 

65 



66 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

13. Evidence of increasing Interest in the British Islands 

The great History of Polybius (b. circa 204 B.C.; d. 122 B.C.?) 
is chiefly devoted to the affairs of Greece, but it contains many 
allusions to the contemporaneous history of other countries. 
From the excerpt given, the increasing interest in and knowledge 
of the British Islands are apparent. Not only are these islands 
mentioned by name, but their connection with the tin trade is 
definitely stated. 

Perhaps indeed some will enquire w^hy, having made so 
long a discourse concerning places in Lybia and Iberia, we 
have not spoken more fully of the outlet at the Pillars of 
Hercules, nor of the exterior sea, and of the peculiarities 
which occur therein, nor yet indeed of the Bretannic Isles, 
and the working of tin; nor again, of the gold and silver 
mines of Iberia; concerning which writers, controverting 
each other, have discoursed very largely. 

Polybii Historiarum libro III. c. 57, ed. Buttner-Wobst and Dindorf, Teubner 

Text, 1882.) 

14. First Roman Invasion of Britain 

CcEsar 

In the Commentaries on the Gallic War, by Julius C^sar 
(b. 100 B.C.; d. 44 B.C.) we possess an invaluable source of con- 
temporary information concerning the first two invasions of 
Britain. Caesar could speak not only authoritatively as being the 
leader of the Roman armies, but with clearness and accuracy as 
being an observant scholar. 

These matters being arranged, finding the weather favour- 
able for his voyage, he set sail about the third watch, and 
ordered the horse to march forward to the farther port, and 
there embark and follow him. As this was performed rather 
tardily by them, he himself reached Britain with the first 
squadron of ships, about the fourth hour of the day, and there 
saw the forces of the enemy drawn up in arms on all the hills. 
The nature of the place was this : the sea was confined by 
mountains so close to it that a dart could be thrown from 
their summit upon the shore. Considering this by no means 
a fit place for disembarking, he remained at anchor till the 
ninth hour, for the other ships to arrive there. Having in 
the meantime assembled the lieutenants and military tribunes, 
he told them both what he had learnt from Volusenus, and 
what he wished to be done; and enjoined them (as the prin- 
ciple of military matters, and especially as maritime affairs, 
which have a precipitate and uncertain action, required) that 
all things should be performed by them at a nod and at the 



I 



THE BRITAIN OF THE ANCIENTS 67 

instant. Having dismissed them, meeting both with wind and 
tide favourable at the time, the signal being given and the 
anchor weighed, he advanced about seven miles from that 
place, and stationed his fleet over against an open and level 
shore. 

But the barbarians, upon perceiving the design of the 
Romans, sent forward their cavalry and charioteers, a class 
of warriors of whom it is their practice to make great use in 
their battles, and following with the rest of their forces, en- 
deavoured to prevent our men landing. In this was the 
greatest difficulty, for the following reasons, namely, because 
our ships, on account of their great size, could be stationed 
only in deep water ; and our soldiers, in places unknown to 
them, with their hands embarrassed, oppressed with a large 
and heavy weight of armour, had at the same time to leap 
from the ships, stand amidst the waves, and encounter the 
enemy ; whereas they, either on dry ground, or advancing a 
little way into the water, free in all their limbs, in places 
thoroughly known to them, could confidently throw their 
weapons and spur on their horses, which were accustomed 
to this kind of service. Dismayed by these circumstances 
and altogether untrained in their mode of battle, our men did 
not all exert the same vigour and eagerness which they had 
been wont to exert in engagements on dry land. 

When Caesar observed this, he ordered the ships of war, 
the appearance of which was somewhat strange to the bar- 
barians and the motion more ready for service, to be with- 
drawn a little from the transport vessels, and to be propelled 
by their oars, and to be stationed a little toward the open 
flank of the enemy, and the enemy to be beaten off and driven 
away, with slings, arrows, and engines : which plan was of 
great service to our men : for the barbarians being startled 
by the form of our ships and the motions of our oars and 
the nature of our engines, which was strange to them, 
stopped, and shortly after retreated a little. And while our 
men were hesitating [whether they should advance to the 
shore], chiefly on account of the depth of the sea, he who 
carried the eagle of the tenth legion, after supplicating the 
gods that the matter might turn out favourably to the legion, 
exclaimed, "Leap, fellow-soldiers, unless you wish to betray 
your eagle to the enemy. I, for my part, will perform my 
duty to the commonwealth and my general." When he had 
said this with a loud voice, he leaped from the ship and pro- 
ceeded to bear the eagle toward the enemy. Then our men, 



6s SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

exhorting one another that so great a disgrace should not be 
incurred, all leaped from the ship. When those in the nearest 
vessels saw them, they speedily followed and approached the 
"enemy. 

The battle was maintained vigorously on both sides. Our 
men, however, as they could neither keep their ranks, nor get 
firm footing, nor follow their standards, and as one from one 
ship arid another from another assembled around whatever 
standards they met, were thrown into great confusion. But 
the enemy, who were acquainted with all the shallows, when 
from the shore they saw any coming from a ship one by one, 
spurred on their horses, and attacked them while embar- 
rassed; many surrounded a few, others threw their weapons 
upon our collected forces on their exposed flank. When 
Csesar observed this, he ordered the boats of the ships of war 
arid the spy sloops to be filled with soldiers, and sent them up 
"to the succour of those whom he had observed in distress. 
Our men, as soon as they made good their footing on dry 
ground, and all their comrades had joined them, made an 
attack upon the enemy, and put them to flight, but could not 
pursue them very far, because the horse had not been able 
to maintain their course at sea and reach the island. This 
alone was wanting to Caesar's accustomed success. 

(CcBsar^s Conime7itaries on the Gaelic IVar, book IV, c. 23-26.) 

15. A Description of the Britons 

CcFsnr 

The characteristics of the Britons and their country are well 
described by C^sar. He possessed keen perception and cool 
judgment, and he was accustomed to impartially record all which 
personal interests did not tempt him to colour. 

The interior portion of Britain is inhabited by those of 
whom they say that it is handed down by tradition that they 
were born in the island itself: the maritime portion by those 
who had passed over from the country of the Belgse for the 
purpose of plunder and making war; almost all of whom are 
called by the names of those states from which being sprung 
they went thither, and having waged war, continued there and 
began to cultivate the lands. The number of the people is 
countless, and their buildings exceedingly numerous, for the 
most part very like those of the Gauls: the number of cattle 
is great. They use either brass or iron rings, determined at 
a certain weight, as their money. Tin is produced in the mid- 
land regions; in the maritime, iron; but the quantity of it 



THE BRITAIN OF THE ANCIENTS 69 

is small : they employ brass, which is imported. There, as in 
Gaul, is timber of every description, except beech and fir. 
They do not regard it lawful to eat the hare, and the cock, 
and the goose ; they, however, breed them for amusement and 
pleasure. The climate is more temperate than in Gaul, the 
colds being less severe . . . 

The most civilized of all these nations are they who in- 
habit Kent, which is entirely a maritime district, nor do they 
differ much from the Gallic customs. Most of the inland in- 
habitants do not sow corn, but live on milk and flesh, and are 
clad with skins. All the Britains, indeed, dye themselves 
with wood, which occasions a bluish colour, and thereby have 
a more terrible appearance in fight. They wear their hair 
long, and have every part of their body shaved except their 
head and upper lip. Ten and even twelve have wives com- 
mon to them, and particularly brothers among brothers, and 
parents among their children ; but if there be any issue by 
these wives, they are reputed to be the children of those by 
whom respectively each was first espoused when a virgin. 

{Casar^s Coinmefitaries on the Gallic War, book V, c. 12, 14.) 

16. The Characteristics of the Britons 

Strnho 

In the Fourth Book of the Geography of Strabo (b. circa 50 b.c. ; 
d. 21 A.D. ?) we find an interesting account of the British Islands 
and their inhabitants. Strabo gathers and reflects the opinions 
of the historians and geographers who preceded him, but he also 
adds much derived from his own research and observation. His 
description is not the less valuable because based on the accounts 
of Pytheas, Posidonius. Artemidorus, Ephorus, Timagenes, Aris- 
totle, Polybius, Asinius, Pollio, and Qesar. 

. . . The greatest portion of the island is level and woody, 
although many tracts are hilly. It produces corn, and cattle, 
and gold, and silver, and iron, which things are brought 
thence, and also skins and slaves, and dogs sagacious in hunt- 
ing: and the Celti use these for the purposes of war also, as 
well as their native dogs. The men are taller than the Celti, 
w^ith hair less yellow ; and slighter in their persons. As an 
instance of their height, we ourselves saw at Rome some 
youths who were taller by so much as half a foot than the 
tallest there; but they were distorted in their lower limbs, 
and in other respects not symmetrical in their conformation. 
Their manners are in part like those of the Celti, though in 
part more simple and barbarous ; insomuch that some of them, 
though possessing plenty of milk, have not skill enough to 



70 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

make cheese, and are totally unacquainted with horticulture 
and other matters of husbandry. There are several states 
among them. In their wars they make use of chariots for the 
most part, as do some of the Celti. Forests are their cities : 
for having enclosed an ample space with felled trees, here 
they make themselves huts, and lodge their cattle, though not 
for any long continuance. Their atmosphere is more subject 
to rain than to snow; even in their clear days the mist con- 
tinues a considerable time, insomuch that throughout the 
whole day the sun is only visible for three or four hours about 
noontime ; and this must be the case also among the Morini 
and the Menapii, and among all the neighbouring people. The 
deified Caesar twice passed over to the island, but quickly 
returned, having effected nothing of consequence, nor pro- 
ceeded far into the country, as well on account of some com- 
motions in Celtica, both among his own soldiers and among 
the barbarians, as because of the loss of many of his ships 
at the period of the full moon, when both the flux and reflux 
of the tides were greatly increased. Nevertheless he gained 
two or three victories over the Britons, although he had 
transported thither only two legions of his army, and brought 
away hostages, and slaves, and much other booty. At the 
present time, however, some of the princes there having, by 
their embassies and court, gained the friendship of Caesar 
Augustus, have dedicated their offerings in the Capitol; and 
have brought the whole island into a state little short of 
intimate union with the Romans. They bear moderate taxes 
laid both on the imports and exports from Celtica ; which are 
ivory bracelets and necklaces, amber, and vessels of glass, 
and such like mean merchandise ; wherefore the island would 
be hardly worth a garrison, for it would require at least one 
legion and some cavalry to enforce tribute from them ; and 
the total expenditure for the army would be equal to the 
additional revenue : for if a tribute were levied, of necessity 
the imposts must be diminished, and at the same time some 
dangers would be incurred if force were to be employed. 

{Strabonis GeograpJdce, lib. I., ed, Meineke, Teubner Text, 1866.) 

17. The Tin Mines of Britain 

Diodoms Sicnlns 

The History, or Bibliotheca, of Diodorus Siculus was probably 
written in the last half of the first century of our era. The work 
has not been preserved in its entirety. From the fragments re- 
lating to Britain I have selected one which speaks of the tin trade 
of that island. It was to the product of its mines that Britain 
owed its earliest importance. 



THE BRITAIN OF THE ANCIENTS 71 

. . . Further they say that its aboriginal tribes inhabit Brit- 
ain, in their usages still preserving the primitive modes of 
life; for in their wars they use chariots, as the ancient 
Greek heroes are reported to have done in the Trojan war, 
and they have mean habitations, constructed for the most part 
of reeds or of wood, and they gather in their harvest by cut- 
ting off the ears of corn and storing them in subterraneous 
repositories : that they cull therefrom daily such as are old, 
and, dressing them, have thence their sustenance : that they 
are simple in their manners, and far removed from the cun- 
ning and wickedness of men of the present day : that their 
modes of living are frugal, and greatly differing from the 
luxury consequent on riches: that the island is thickly in- 
habited, and the temperature of the air exceedingly cold, in- 
asmuch as it lies directly beneath the north : and that they 
have many kings and princes, and for the most part live 
peaceably together. 

But concerning its institutions and other peculiarities we 
shall wTite at detail when we arrive at Caesar's expedition 
into Britain : at present we shall speak of the tin which is 
there produced. They who dwell near that promontory of 
Britain which is called Belerium are singularly fond of 
strangers, and, from their intercourse with foreign mer- 
chants, civilized in their habits. These people obtain the tin 
by skilfully working the soil which produces it; this being 
rocky, has earthy interstices, in which, working the ore, and 
then fusing, they reduce it to metal ; and when they have 
formed it into cubical shapes, they convey it to a certain is- 
land, lying off Britain, named Ictis: for at the low tides the 
intervening space being laid dry, they carry thither, in 
waggons, the tin in great abundance. A singular circum- 
stance happens with respect to the neighbouring islands lying 
between Europe and Britain ; for at the high tides, the inter- 
vening passage being flooded, they seem islands ; but at the 
low tides, the sea retreating and leaving much space dry, they 
appear peninsulas. From hence the merchants purchase the 
tin from the natives, and carry it across into Gaul ; and 
finally journeying by land through Gaul for about thirty 
days, they convey their burdens on horses to the outlet of 
the river Rhone. This much, therefore, to have spoken con- 
cerning tin may suffice. 

(Diodori Siculi Bibliothecce Historicce, ed. Vogel, Teubner Text, in progress.) 



72 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

i8. Phases of the Roman Occupation 1 

Tactiusi 

No Roman writer has given a description so comprehensive 
and clear of methods of war in Britain as has Tacitus. In the 
Life of Agricola this author furnishes information regarding 
the British Islands and their inhabitants, which is of utmost 
value to the student. Tacitus possessed peculiar facilities for 
directly obtaining authentic and minute information regarding 
the actual occurrences in the country of the Britons. 

Who were the first inhabitants of Britain, whether in- 
digenous or immigrants, is a question involved in the obscu- 
rity usual among barbarians. Their temperament of body is 
various, whence deductions are formed of their different 
origins. Thus, the ruddy hair and large limbs of the Cale- 
donians point out a German derivation. The swarthy com- 
plexion and curled hair of the Silures, together with their 
situation opposite to Spain, render it probable that a colony 
of the ancient Iberi possessed themselves of that territory. 
They who are nearest Gaul resemble the inhabitants of that 
country ; whether from the duration of hereditary influence, 
or whether it be that when lands jut forward in opposite 
directions, climate gives the same condition of body to the in- 
habitants of both. On a general survey, however, it appears 
probable that the Gauls originally took possession of the 
neighbouring coast. The sacred rites and superstitions of 
these people are discernible among the Britons. The lan- 
guages of the two nations do not greatly differ. The same 
audacity in provoking danger, and irresolution in facing it 
when present, is observable in both. The Britons, however, 
display more ferocity, not being yet softened by a long peace : 
for it appears from history that the Gauls were once re- 
nowned in war, till, losing their valour with their liberty, 
languor and indolence entered among them. The same 
change has also taken place among those of the Britons who 
have been long subdued; but the rest continue such as the 
Gauls formerly were. 

Their military strength consists in infantry: some nations 
also make use of chariots in war ; in the management of 
which, the most honourable person guides the reins, while 
his dependents fight from the chariot. The Britons were 
formerly governed by kings, but at present they are divided 
in factions and parties among their chiefs; and this want 
of union for concerting some general plan is the most favour- 
able circumstance to us, in our designs against so powerful 
a people. It is seldom that two or three communities concur 



THE BRITAIN OF THE ANCIENTS 73 

in repelling the common danger ; and thus, while they engage 
singly, they are all subdued. The sky in this country is de- 
formed by clouds and frequent rains ; but the cold is never 
extremely rigorous. The length of the days greatly exceeds 
that in our part of the world. The nights are bright, and, 
at the extremity of the island, so short, that the close and 
the return of day is scarcely distinguished by a perceptible 
interval. It is even asserted that, when clouds do not inter- 
vene, the splendour of the sun is visible during the whole 
night, and that it does not appear to rise and set, but to move 
across. The cause of this is, that the extreme and flat parts 
of the earth, casting a low shadow, do not throw up the dark- 
ness, and so night falls beneath the sky and the stars. The 
soil, though improper for the olive, the vine, and other 
productions of warmer climates, is fertile, and suitable for 
corn. Growth is quick, but maturation slow ; both from the 
same cause, the great humidity of the ground and the atmos- 
phere. The earth yields gold and silver and other metals, 
the rewards of victory. The ocean produces pearls, but of 
a cloudy and livid hue ; which some impute to unskilfulness 
in the gatherers ; for in the Red Sea the fish are plucked 
from the rocks alive and vigorous, but in Britain they are 
collected as the sea throws them up. For my own part, I 
can more readily conceive that the defect is in the nature 
of the pearls, than in our avarice. 

The Britons cheerfully submit to levies, tributes, and the 
other services of government, if they are not treated in- 
juriously ; but such treatment they bear with impatience, 
their subjection only extending to obedience, not to servitude. 
Accordingly Julius Caesar, the first who entered Britain with 
an army, although he terrified the inhabitants by a success- 
ful engagement, and became master of the shore, may be con- 
sidered rather to have transmitted the discovery than the 
possession of the country to posterity . . . 

In the beginning of the next summer, Agricola . . . having 
sent forwards his fleet to spread its ravages through various 
parts of the coast, in order to excite an extensive and dubious 
alarm, he marched with an army equipped for expedition, 
to which he had joined the bravest of the Britons whose 
fidelity had been proved by a long allegiance, and arrived at 
the Grampian hills, where the enemy was already encamped. 
For the Britons, undismayed by the event of the former 
action, expecting revenge or slavery, and at length taught 
that the common danger was to be repelled by union alone, 



74 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

had assembled the strength of all their tribes by embassies 
and confederacies. Upwards of thirty thousand men in arms 
were now descried ; and the youth, together with those of 
a hale and vigorous age, renowned in war, and bearing their 
several honorary decorations, were still flocking in . . . 

. . . They burst forth into cheerful acclamations, and in- 
stantly flew to arms. Thus eager and impetuous, he formed 
them so that the centre was occupied by the auxiliary in- 
fantry, in number eight thousand, and three thousand horse 
were spread in the wings. The legions were stationed in 
the rear, before the intrenchments ; a disposition which 
would render the victory signally glorious, if it were obtained 
without the expense of Roman blood; and would ensure 
support if the rest of the army were repulsed. The British 
troops, for the greater display of their numbers, and more 
formidable appearance, were ranged upon the rising grounds, 
so that the first line stood upon the plain; the rest, as if 
linked together, rose above one another upon the ascent. 
The charioteers and horsemen filled the middle of the field 
with their tumult and careering. Then Agricola, fearing 
from the superior number of the enemy lest he should be 
obliged to fight as well on his flanks as in front, extended 
his ranks; and although this rendered his line of battle less 
firm, and several of his officers advised him to bring up the 
legions, yet, filled with hope, and resolute in danger, he dis- 
missed his horse, and took his station on foot before the 
colours. 

At first the action w^as carried on at a distance. The 
Britons, armed with long swords and short targets, with 
steadiness and dexterity avoided or struck down our missile 
weapons, and at the same time poured in a torrent of their 
own. Agricola then encouraged three Batavian and two 
Tungrian cohorts to fall in and come to close quarters; a 
method of fighting familiar to these veteran soldiers, but 
embarrassing to the enemy from the nature of thefr armour; 
for the enormous British swords, blunt at the point, are unfit 
for close grappling, and engaging in a confined space. When 
the Batavians, therefore, began to redouble their blows, to 
strike with the bosses of their shields, and mangle the faces 
of the enemy; and, bearing down all those who resisted them 
on the plain, were advancing their line up the ascent; the 
other cohorts, fired with ardour and emulation, joined in the 
charge and overthrew all who came in their way : and so great 
was their impetuosity in the pursuit of victory, that they left 



I 



THE BRITAIN OF THE ANCIENTS 75 

many of their foes half dead or unhurt behind them. In the 
meantime the troops of cavalry took to flight, and the armed 
chariots mingled in the engagement of cavalry ; since the 
men, long keeping their ground with difficulty, were forced 
along with the bodies of the horses ; and frequently, strag- 
gling chariots, and affrighted horses without their riders, 
flying variously as terror impelled them, rushed obliquely 
athwart or directly through the lines. 

Those of the Britons who, yet disengaged from the fight, 
sat on the summits of the hills, and looked with careless 
contempt on the smallness of our numbers, now began grad- 
ually to descend; and would have fallen on the rear of 
the conquering troops, had not Agricola, apprehending this 
very event, opposed four reserved squadrons of horse to their 
attack, which, the more furiously they had advanced, drove 
them back with the greater celerity. Their project was thus 
turned against themselves ; and the squadrons were ordered 
to wheel from the front of the battle and fall upon the 
enemy's rear. A striking and hideous spectacle now appeared 
on the plain : some pursuing ; some striking ; some making 
prisoners, whom they slaughtered as others came in their 
way. Now, as their several dispositions prompted, crowds 
of armed Britons fled before inferior numbers, or a few, 
even unarmed, rushed upon their foes, and offered them- 
selves to a voluntary death. Arms, and carcasses, and mans 
gled limbs, were promiscuously strewed, and the field was 
dyed in blood. Even among the vanquished were seen in- 
stances of rage and valour. When the fugitives approached 
the woods, they collected, and surrounded the foremost of 
the pursuers, advancing incautiously and unacquainted with 
the country ; and had not Agricola, who was everywhere 
present, caused some strong and lightly-equipped cohorts to 
encompass the ground, while part of the cavalry dismounted 
made way through the thickets, and part on horseback 
scoured the open woods, some disaster would have proceeded 
from the excess of confidence. But when the enemy saw 
their pursuers again formed in compact order, they renewed 
their flight, not in bodies as before, or awaiting for their 
companions, but scattered and mutually avoided each other ; 
and thus took their way to the most distant and devious 
retreats. Night and satiety of slaughter put an end to the 
pursuit. Of the enemy ten thousand were slain: on our part 
three hundred and sixty fell ; among whom was Aulus At- 
ticus, the prsefect of a cohort, who, by his juvenile ardour, 



7§ SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY ■ 

and the fire of his horse, was borne into the midst of the 
enemy. 

Success and plunder contributed to render the night joyful 
to the victors; whilst the Britons wandering and forlorn, 
amid the promiscuous lamentations of men and women, were 
dragging along the wounded; calling out to the unhurt; 
abandoning their habitations, and in the rage of despair 
setting them on fire; choosing places of concealment, and 
then deserting them; consulting together, and then separat- 
ing. Sometimes, on beholding the dear pledges of kindred 
and affection, they were melted into tenderness, or more fre- 
quently roused into fury; insomuch that several, according 
to authentic information, instigated by a savage compassion, 
laid violent hands upon their own wives and children. On 
the succeeding day, a vast silence all around, desolate hills, 
the distant smoke of burning houses, and not a living soul 
descried by the scouts, displayed more amply the face of 
victory. After parties had been detached to all quarters 
without discovering any certain traces of the enemy's flight, 
or any bodies of them still in arms, as the lateness of the 
season rendered it impracticable to spread the war through 
the country, Agricola led his army to the confines of the 
Horesti. Having received hostages from this people, he 
ordered the commander of the fleet to sail round the island; 
for which expedition he was furnished with sufficient force, 
and preceded by the terror of the Roman name. He himself 
then led back the cavalry and infantry, marching slowly, that 
he might impress a deeper awe on the newly conquered 
nations ; and at length distributed his troops into their winter- 
quarters. 

{Life of Agricola, Tacitus, London, 1874, II, p. 355 et seq.) 

19. Consequences of the Withdrawal of the Romans 

Gildas 

The short treatise De Excidio Britannice was written by Gildas 
(b. circa 516; d. 570?) about 560 a.d. Gildas cannot therefore 
be styled a contemporary source for the Romano-British period 
of English History, yet he is the accepted and sole — though not 
wholly satisfactory — authority for the period extending from 
the early part of the fifth century until about 560 a.d. 

The Romans, therefore, left the country . . . No sooner 
were they gone, than the Picts and Scots, like worms which 
in the heat of mid-day come forth from their holes, hastily 
land again from their canoes, in which they had been carried 
beyond the Cichican valley, differing one from another in 



THE BRITAIN OF THE ANCIENTS 77 

manners, but inspired with the same avidity for blood, and 
all more eager to shroud their villainous faces in bushy hair 
than to cover with decent clothes those parts of their body 
which required it. Moreover, having heard of the departure 
of our friends, and their resolution never to return, they 
seize with greater boldness than before on all the country 
towards the extreme north as far as the wall. To oppose 
them there was placed on the heights a garrison equally slow 
to fight and ill adapted to run away, a useless and panic- 
struck company, who slumbered away days and nights on 
their unprofitable watch. Meanwhile the hooked weapons 
of their enemies were not idle, and our wretched countrymen 
were dragged from the wall and dashed against the ground. 
Such premature death, however, painful as it was, saved them 
from seeing the miserable sufferings of their brothers and 
children. But why should I say more ? They left their cities, 
abandoned the protection of the wall, and dispersed them- 
selves in flight, more desperately than before. The enemy, 
on the other hand, pursued them with more unrelenting 
cruelty than before, and butchered our countrymen like 
sheep, so that their habitations were like those of savage 
beasts ; for they turned their arms upon each other, and for 
the sake of a little sustenance, imbrued their hands in the 
blood of their fellow-countrymen. Thus foreign calamities 
were augmented by domestic feuds ; so that the whole coun- 
try was entirely destitute of provisions, save such as could 
be procured in the chase. 

Again, therefore, the wretched remnant, sending to ^tius, 
a powerful Roman citizen, address him as follows: — "To 
yEtius, now consul for the third time : the groans of the 
Britons." And again a little further, thus: — "The barbari- 
ans drive us to the sea; the sea throws us back on the bar- 
barians: thus two modes of death await us, we are either 
slain or drowned." The Romans, however, could not assist 
them . . . 

(The works of Gildas, ' The History,' §§ 19, 20. In Six Old English Chronicles. 

London, 1872.) 

20. The Power of Britain Revives 

Bede 

The distress and despair into which the Britons fell at the 
withdrawal of the Romans is well shown by the preceding selec- 
tion from GiLDAS. The condition of depression did not endure. 
The valour of the native Britons re-asserted itself, and gave to 
the island a period of prosperity. 



78 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

In the meantime, the aforesaid famine distressing the Brit- 
ons more and more, and leaving to posterity lasting memo- 1 
rials of its mischievous effects, obliged many of them to ^ 
submit themselves to the depredators; though others still 
held out, confiding in the Divine assistance, when none was 
to be had from men. These continually made excursions 
from the mountains, caves, and woods, and, at length, began 
to inflict severe losses on their enemies, who had been for 
so many years plundering the country. The Irish robbers 
thereupon returned home, in order to come again soon after. 
The Picts, both then and afterwards, remained quiet in the 
farthest part of the island, save that sometimes they would 
do some mischief, and carry off booty from the Britons. 

When, however, the ravages of the enemy at length ceased, 
the island began to abound with such plenty of grain as had 
never been known in any age before. 

(Bede's Ecclesiastical History, book 1, c. 14, ed. J. A. Giles, London, 1894.) 



CHAPTER IV 

THE BIRTH OF THE ENGLISH NATION 



21. The Ancient Germans 

Co'sar 

The famous Commentaries of Cesar contain the first accurate 
and comprehensive account of the primitive Germans, the an- 
cestors of the English. In connection with the excerpt given, 
the Gennania of Tacitus may be read with profit. 

The Germans differ much from these usages, for they have 
neither Druids to preside over sacred offices, nor do they 
pay great regard to sacrifices. They rank in the number of 
gods those alone whom they behold, and by whose instru- 
mentality they are obviously benefited, namely, the sun, fire, 
and the moon ; they have not heard of the other deities even 
by report. Their whole life is occupied in hunting and in 
the pursuits of the military art; from childhood they devote 
themselves to fatigue and hardships. Those who have re- 
mained chaste for the longest time, receive the greatest com- 
mendation among their people . . . 

They do not pay much attention to agriculture, and a large 
portion of their food consists in milk, cheese, and flesh ; nor 
has any one a fixed quantity of land or his own individual 
limts; but the magistrates and the leading men each year 
apportion to the tribes and families, who have united to- 
gether, as much land as, and in the place in which, they think 
proper, and the year after compel them to remove elsewhere. 
For this enactment they advance many reasons — lest seduced 
by long-continued custom, they may exchange their ardour 
in the w^aging of war for agriculture ; lest they may be anx- 
ious to acquire extensive estates, and the more powerful drive 
the weaker from their possessions; lest they construct their 
houses with too great a desire to avoid heat and cold ; lest the 
desire of wealth spring up, from which cause divisions and 
discords arise; and that they may keep the common people in 
a contented state of mind, when each sees his own means 
placed on an equality with [those of] the most powerful. 

79 



8o SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

It is the greatest glory to the several States to have as wide 
deserts as possible around them, their frontiers having been 
laid waste. They consider this the real evidence of their 
prowess, that their neighbours shall be driven out of their ■! 
lands and abandon tTiem, and that no one dare settle near 
them; at the same time, they think that they shall be on that 
account the more secure, because they have removed the ap- 
prehension of a sudden incursion. When a State either repels 
war waged against it, or wages it against another, magis- 
trates are chosen to preside over that war with such author- 
ity, that they have power of life and death. In peace there is 
no common magistrate, but the chiefs of provinces and can- 
tons administer justice and determine controversies among 
their own people. Robberies which are committed beyond the 
boundaries of each State bear no infamy, and they show that 
these are committed for the purpose of disciplining their 
youth and of preventing sloth. And when any of their 
chiefs has said in an assembly ''that he will be their leader, 
let those who are willing to follow, give in their names" ; 
they who approve of both the enterprise and the man arise 
and promise their assistance and are applauded by the people ; 
such of them as have not followed him are accounted in the 
number of deserters and traitors, and confidence in all mat- 
ters is afterwards refused them. To injure guests they 
regard as impious ; they defend from wrong those who come 
to them for any purpose whatever, and esteem them inviol- 
aWe; to them the houses of all are open and maintenance is 
freely supplied. 

(Caesar's Coniinetitaries on the Gallic War, book VI, c. 21, 22, 23., 

22. The Coming of Hengist and Horsa 

Bede 

The accounts of the coming of the Teutons to the Isle of 
Thanet are extremely unsatisfactory. Although this is the case, 
yet to the student of history the beginning of the Teutonic in- 
vasion of Briton is of such importance as to demand an illustra- 
tion. The statement of Bede possesses at least an element of 
probability. 

They consulted what was to be done, and where they could 
seek assistance to prevent or repel the cruel and frequent in- 
cursions of the Northern Nations ; and they all agreed with 
their King Vortigern to call over to their aid, from the parts 
beyond the sea, the Saxon nation ... In the year of our 
Lord 449 . . . then the nations of the Angles, or Saxons, being 
invited by the aforesaid King, arrived in Britain with three 



THE 'BIRTH OF THE ENGLISH NATION 81 

long ships, and had a place assigned them to reside in by the 
same king, in the eastern part of the island, that they might 
thus appear to be fighting for their country, whilst their real 
intentions were to enslave it. Accordingly they engaged 
w^ith the enemy, who were come from the north to give battle, 
and obtained the victory; which, being known at home in 
their own country, as also the fertility of the country, and 
the cowardice of the Britons, a more considerable fleet was 
quickly sent over, bringing a still greater number of men, 
which, being added to the former, made up an invincible 
army. The newcomers received of the Britons a place to 
inhabit, upon condition that they should wage war against 
their enemies for the peace and security of the country, 
whilst the Britons agreed to furnish them with pay. Those 
who came over were of the three most powerful nations of 
Germany — Saxons, Angles, and Jutes. From the Jutes are 
descended the people of Kent, and of the Isle of Wight, and 
those also in the province of the West- Saxons who are to 
this day called Jutes, seated opposite to the Isle of Wight. 
From the Saxons, that is, the country which is now called 
Old Saxony, came the East-Saxons, the South-Saxons, and 
the West- Saxons. From the Angles, that is, the country 
which is called Anglia, and which is said, from that time, to 
remain desert to this day, between the provinces of the Jutes 
and the Saxons, are descended the East- Angles, the Midland- 
Angles, Mercians, all the race of the Northumbrians, that is, 
of those nations that dwell on the north side of the river 
Huniber, and the other nations of the English. The two first 
commanders are said to have been Hengist and Horsa. Of 
whom Horsa, being afterwards slain in battle by the Britons, 
was buried in the eastern parts of Kent, where a monument, 
bearing his name, is still in existence. They were the sons 
of Victgilsus, whose father was Vecta, son of Woden ; from 
whose stock the royal race of many provinces deduce their 
original. In a short time, swarms of the aforesaid nations 
came over into the island, and they began to increase so 
much, that they became terrible to the natives themselves 
who had invited them. Then, having on a sudden entered 
into league with the Picts, whom they had by this time 
repelled by the force of their arms, they began to turn their 
weapons against their confederates. At first, they obliged 
them to furnish a greater quantity of provisions; and, seek- 
ing an occasion to quarrel, protested, that unless more plenti- 
ful supplies were brought them, they would break the con- 



82 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

federacy, and ravage all the island; nor were they backward 
in putting their threats in execution. In short, the fire 
kindled by the hands of these pagans, proved God's just re- 
venge for the crimes of the people; not unlike that which, 
being once lighted by the Chaldeans, consumed the walls and 
city of Jerusalem. For the barbarous conquerors acting here 
in the same manner, or rather the just Judge ordaining that 
they should so act, they plundered all the neighbouring cities 
and coimtry, spread the conflagration from the eastern to the 
western sea, without any opposition, and covered almost 
every part of the devoted island. Public as well as private 
structures were overturned; the priests were everywhere 
slain before the altars; the prelates and the people, without 
any respect of persons, were destroyed with fire and sword; 
nor was there any to bury those who had been thus cruelly 
slaughtered. Some of the miserable remainder, being taken 
in the mountains, were butchered in heaps. Others, spent 
with hunger, came forth and submitted themselves to the 
enemy for food, being destined to undergo perpetual servi- 
tude, if they were not killed even upon the spot. Some, with 
sorrowful hearts, fled beyond the seas. Others, continuing 
in their own country, led a miserable life among the woods, 
rocks, and mountains, with scarcely enough food to support 
life, and expecting every moment to be their last. 

(Bede's Ecclesiastical History of Englatid, book I, c. i6, 
Ed. J. A. Giles, London, 1894.) 

23. England becomes One Kingdom 

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle 

The development of the over-lordship of the kings of Wessex, 
and the establishment of the dynasty of its ruler Ecgbert as Bret- 
walders of England, is set forth in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. 
This old chronicle is unique among histories, stretching as it 
does from the beginning of the Christian era to 11 54 a.d. and 
being contemporary history from the fifth century. It is be- 
lieved to have been an annual compilation, made at one of the 
chief monasteries, and its authority is in the main accepted. There 
are several manuscript copies extant. Details supplementary to 
the statements of the chronicle of the progress of the union of 
England into one kingdom under Ecgbert — from whom every 
sovereign of England, including the Danish kings and William 
the Conqueror, has claimed descent — may be found in Bede's 
Ecclesiastical History. 

KENT BEGUN 

A. 455. This year Hengist and Horsa fought against king 
Vortigern at the place which is called ^gels-threp [Ayles- 



THE BIRTH OF THE ENGLISH NATION 83 

ford] and his brother Horsa was there slain, and after that 
Hengist obtained the kingdom, and .Esc his son. 

SUSSEX BEGUN 

A. 477. This year ^lla, and his three sons, Cymen, and 
Wlencing, and Cissa, came to the land of Britain with three 
ships, at a place which is named Cymenes-ora, and there 
slew many Welsh, and some they drove in flight into the 
wood that is named Andreds-lea. 

WESSEX BEGUN 

A. 495. This year two ealdormen came to Britain, Cerdic 
and Cynric his son, with five ships, at the place which is 
called Cerdics-ore, and the same dav they fought against the 
Welsh. 

NORTHUMBRIA BEGUN 

A, 547. This year Ida began to reign, from whom arose 
the royal race of North-humbria ; and he reigned twelve 
years, and built Bambrough, which was at first enclosed by 
a hedge, and afterwards by a wall. 

SUPREMACY OF NORTHUMBRIA 

A. 617. This year Ethelfrid the king of the North-hum- 
brians was slain by Redwald king of the East-Angles, and 
Edwin the son of Alia succeeded to the kingdom, and subdued 
all Britain, the Kentish-men alone excepted. And he drove 
out the ethelings, sons of Ethelfrid ; that is to say, first Ean- 
frid, Oswald, and Owsy, Oslac, Oswudu, Oslaf, and Offa. 

SUPREMACY OF MERCIA 

A. 792. This year Offa, king of the Mercians, commanded 
the head of king Ethelbert to be struck off. And Osred, who 
had been king of the Northumbrians, having come home after 
his exile, was seized and slain on the i8th before the Kalends 
of October ; and his body lies at Tinemouth. 

A. 796. This year Kenulf, king of the Mercians, laid 
waste Kent as far as the marshes, and took Pren their king, 
and led him bound into Mercia, and let his eyes be picked out 
and his hands be cut off. 

SUPREMACY OF WESSEX 

A. 823. This year there was a battle between the Welsh 
and the men of Devon at Camelford : and the same year Eg- 
bert king of the West-Saxons and Bernulf king of the Mer- 
cians fought at Wilton, and Egbert got the victory, and there 
was great slaughter made. 



84 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 



EGBERT OVERLORD OF BRITAIN 



A. 827. . . . And the same year king Egbert conquered the 
kingdom of the Mercians, and all that was south of the Hum- 
ber; and he was the eighth king who was Bretwalda. ■{ 



(From the An^-lb-Saxou Chronicle, for years named. 
Ed. Thorpe, Rolls Series.) 



24. The Re-Establishment of Christianity 

Bede 

Although the venerable Bede (673 to circa 735) was born a 
century after the landing of St. Augustine, we turn to his Eccle- 
siastical History as the native source of our knowledge of the 
regeneration of Christianity in Britain. Bede has been termed 
the Father of English History. His learning was great, his in- 
dustry constant, and his means of information at once extensive 
and uniflue. His History is an indispensable source for the 
period ol which it treats. 

Augustine, thus strengthened by the confirmation of the 
blessed father Gregory, returned to the work of the word of 
God, with the servants of Christ, and arrived in Britain. 
The powerful Ethelbert was at that time king of Kent; he 
had extended his dominions as far as the great river Hum- 
ber, by which the Southern Saxons are divided from the 
Northern. On the east of Kent is the large Isle of Thanet 
containing according to the English way of reckoning, 600 
families, divided from the other land by the river Wantsum, 
which is about three furlongs over, and fordable only in two 
places, for both ends of it run into the sea. In this island 
landed the servant of our Lord, Augustine, and his com- 
panions, being, as is reported, nearly forty men. They had, 
by order of the blessed Pope Gregory, taken interpreters of 
the nation of the Franks, and sending to Ethelbert, signified 
that they were come from Rome, and brought a joyful mes- 
sage, which most undoubtedly assured to all that took advan- 
tage of it everlasting joys in heaven, and a kingdom that 
would never end, with the living and true God. The king 
having heard this, ordered them to stay in that island where 
they had landed, and that they should be furnished with all 
necessaries, till he should consider what to do with them. 
For he had before heard of the Christian religion, having a 
Christian wife of the royal family of the Franks, called 
Bertha; whom he had received from her parents, upon con- 
dition that she should be permitted to practise her religion 
with the bishop Luidhard, who was sent with her to preserve 



THE BIRTH OF THE ENGLISH NATION 85 

ker faith. Some days after, the king came into the island, 
and sitting in the open air, ordered Augustine and his com- 
panions to be brought into his presence. For he had taken 
precaution that they should not come to him in any house, 
lest, according to an ancient superstition, if they practised 
any magical arts, they might impose upon him, and so get 
the better of him. But they came furnished with Divine, not 
with magic virtue, bearing a silver cross for their banner, 
and the image of our Lord and Saviour painted on a board; 
and singing the litany, they offered up their prayers to the 
Lord for the eternal salvation both of themselves and of those 
to whom they were come. When he had sat down, pursuant 
to the king's commands, and preached to him and his attend- 
ants there present, the word of life, the king answered thus : 
— ''Your words and promises are very fair, but as they are 
new to us, and of uncertain import, I cannot approve of them 
so far as to forsake that which I have so long followed with 
the whole English nation. But because you are come from 
far into my kingdom, and, as I conceive, are desirous to im- 
part to us those things which you believe to be true, and most 
beneficial, we will not molest you, but give you favourable 
entertainment, and take care to supply you with your neces- 
sary sustenance ; nor do we forbid you to preach and gain 
as many as you can to your religion." Accordingly he per- 
mitted them to reside in the city of Canterbury, which was 
the metropolis of all his dominions, and, pursuant to his 
promise, besides allowing them sustenance, did not refuse 
them liberty to preach. It is reported that, as they drew near 
to the city, after their manner, with the holy cross, and the 
image of our sovereign Lord and King, Jesus Christ, they, 
in concert, sung this litany: "We beseech thee, O Lord, in 
all thy mercy, that thy anger and wrath be turned away from 
this city, and from thy holy house, because we have sinned. 
Hallelujah." 

There was on the east side of the city, a church dedicated 
to the honour of St. Martin, built whilst the Romans were 
still in the island, wherein the queen, who, as has been said 
before, was a Christian, used to pray. In this they first 
began to meet, to sing, to pray, to say mass, to preach, and 
to baptize, till the king, being converted to the faith, allowed 
them to preach openly, and build or repair churches in all 
places. 



86 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

Nor was it long before he gave his teachers a settled resi- 
dence in his metropolis of Canterbury, with such possessions 
of different kinds as were necessary for their subsistence. 

(Bede's Ecclesiastical History of England, book I, c. 25. 
Ed. J. A. Giles, London, 1894.) 



CHAPTER V 

ANGLO-SAXON LAWS 



jThe Dooms of the Kings Alfred, Athelstan, and Edgar, 

'Ancient Laws and Institutes of England, ed. Thorpe 

The importance of the Anglo-Saxon laws as sources of Eng- 
lish History is enhanced by the absence of authentic contem- 
porary literature. Were it not for those laws, we should know 
but little of the period. 

The law of a people is synchronous with the development of 
that people. Legislation not only indicates the progress of a 
race, but preserves its characteristics from generation to gen- 
eration. In the selections given below it is sought to indicate the 
development of early English law from the crudest customary 
law to the more scientific enactments of the later Anglo-Saxon 
kings, and also to give the material which best illustrates the 
development of fiscal, political, and legal institutions of the early 
English. 

25. Of a Man's Eye-Wound and of Various Other Limbs 

From the Laws of King Alfred 

If a man strike out another's eye, let him pay LX. shillings, 
and VL shillings and VI. pennies and a third part of a penny, 
as ''bot." If it remain in the head, and he cannot see aught 
therewith, let one third part of the "bot" be retained. 

If a man strike off another's nose, let him make "bot" with 
LX. shillings. 

If a man strike out another's tooth in the front of his head, 
let him make "bot" for it with VIII. shillings: if it be the 
canine tooth, let IV. shillings be paid as "bot." A man's 
grinder is worth XV. shillings. 

If a man's tongue be done out of his head by another man's 
deeds, that shall be as eye-"bot." 

If a man be wounded on the shoulder so that the joint-oil 
flow out, let "bot" be made with XXX. shillings. 

If the thumb be struck off. for that shall be XXX. shillings 
as "bot." 

If the nail be struck off, for that shall be V. shillings as 
"bot." 

87 



88 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 



3oW 



If the shooting [i.e. fore] finger be struck off, the "bo 
is XV. shillings; for its nail it is IV. shillings. 

If a man's thigh be pierced, let XXX. shillings be paid him 
as "bot"; if it be broken, the "bot" is likewise XXX. shil- 
lings. 

If the great toe be struck off, let XX. shillings be paid him 
as "bot"; if it be the second toe, let XV. shillings be paid as 
"bot" ; if the middlemost toe be struck off, there shall be IX. 
shillings as "bot"; if it be the fourth toe, there shall be VI. 
'shillings as "bot"; if the little toe be struck off, let V. shil- 
lings be paid him. 

If a man's arm, with the hand, be entirely cut off before 
the elbow, let "bot" be made for it with LXXX. shillings. 

For every wound before the hair, and before the sleeve, 
and beneath the knee, the "bot" is two parts more. 

26. Of Lordless Men 

From the Laws of King Athelstan 

And we have ordained : respecting those lordless men of 
whom no law can be got, that the kindred be commanded that 
they domicile him to folk-right, and find him a lord in the 
folk-mote; and if they then will not or cannot produce him 
at the term, then be he thenceforth a "flyma," and let him 
slay him for a thief who can come at him : and whoever after 
that shall harbour him, let him pay for him according to his 
"wer," or by it clear himself. 

27. Of Landless Men 

From the Laivs of Khig Athelstan 

And we have ordained: if any landless man should become 
a follower in another shire, and again seek his kinsfolk ; that 
he may harbour him on this condition, that he present him to 
folkright if he there do any wrong, or make "bot" for him. 

28. Of the Doom concerning Hot Iron and Water 

Fro7n the Laws 0/ King Athelstan 

And concerning the ordeal we enjoin by command of God, 
and of the archbishop, and of all bishops : that no man come 
within the church after the fire is borne in with which the 
ordeal shall be heated, except the mass-priest, and him who 
shall go thereto : and let there be measured nine feet from 
the stake to the mark, by the man's feet who goes thereto. 
But if it be water, let it be heated till it low to boiling. And 
be the kettle of iron or of brass, of lead or of clay. And if 
it be a single accusation, let the hand dive after the stone up 



■ ANGLO-SAXON LAWS 89 

to the wrist; and if it be threefold, up to the elbow. And 
when the ordeal is ready, then let two men go in of either 
side; and be they agreed that it is so hot as we before have 
said. And let go in an equal number, of men of either side, 
and stand on both sides of the ordeal, along the church ; and 
let these all be fasting, and abstinent from their wives on 
that night ; and let the mass-priest sprinkle holy water over 
them all, and let each of them taste of the holy water, and 
give them all the book and the image of Christ's rood to kiss : 
and let no man mend the fire any longer when the hallowing 
is begun; but let the iron lie upon the hot embers till the last 
collect : after that, let it be laid upon the "stapela" ; and let 
there be no other speaking within, except that they earnestly 
pray to Almighty God that he make manifest what is sooth- 
est. And let him go thereto ; and let his hand be enveloped, 
and be it postponed till after the third day, whether it be 
foul or clean within the envelope. And he who shall break 
this law, be the ordeal with respect to him void, and let him 
pay to the king CXX. shillings as *'wite." 

"Wal-reaf is a ''nithing's" deed: if any one desire to deny 
it, let him do so with eight and forty full-born thanes. 

29. Of Wer-Gilds 

From the Laws of King Atliehtan 

1. The North people's king's ''gild" is XXX. thousand 
"thrymsas" ; fifteen thousand "thrymsas" are for the "wer- 
gild," and X\^. thousand for the "cyne-dom." The *Sver" 
belongs to the kindred, and the "cyne-bot'' to the people. 

2. An archbishop's and an atheling's "wer-gild" is XV. 
thousand "thrymsas." 

3. A bishop's and an "ealdorman's," VIII. thousand 
"thrymsas." 

4. A "hold's" and a king's high-reeve's, IV. thousand 
"thrymsas." 

5. A mass-thane's and a secular thane's, II. thousand 
"thrymsas.'' 

6. A "ceorl's" "wer-gild" is CC. and LXVI. "thrymsas," 
that is CC. shillings by Mercian law. 

7. And if a "Wilisc"-man thrive so that he have a hide of 
land, and can bring forth the king's "gafol," then is his "wer- 
gild" CXX. shillings. And if he thrive not except to half 
a hide, then let his "wer" be LXXX. shillings. 

8. And if he have not any land, and yet be free, let him be 
paid for with LXX. shillings. 



96 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

9. And if a "ceorlish" man thrive, so that he have V. hides 
of land for the king's "ut-ware," and any one slay him, let 
him be paid for with two thousand "thrymsas." 

10. And though he thrive, so that he have a helm and coat 
of mail, and a sword ornamented with gold, if he have not 
that land, he is nevertheless a "ceorl." 

11. And if his son and his son's son so thrive, that they 
have so much land ; afterwards, the offspring shall be of 
"gesithcund" race, at two thousand ["thrymsas"]. 

12. And if they have not that, nor to that can thrive, let 
them be paid for as "ceorlish." 

30. Of People's Ranks and Law 

From the Laws of King Athelstan 

1. It was whilom, in the laws of the English, that people 
and law went by ranks, and then were the counsellors of the 
nation of worship worthy, each according to his condition, 
"eorl" and '"ceorl," "thegen" and "theoden." 

2. And if a "ceorl" thrived, so that he had fully five hides 
of his own land, church and kitchen, bell-house and "burh"- 
gate-seat, and special duty in the king's hall, then was he 
thenceforth of thane-right worthy, 

3. And if a thane thrived, so that he served the king, and 
on his summons, rode among his household; if he then had a 
thane who him followed, who to the king's "ut-ware," five 
hides had, and in the king's hall served his lord, and thrice 
with his errand went to the king; he might thenceforth, with 
his "fore-oath," his lord represent, at various needs, and his 
plaint lawfully conduct, wheresoever he ought. 

4. And he who so prosperous a vicegerent had not, swore 
for himself according to his right, or it forfeited. 

5. And if a thane thrived, so that he became an "eorl," then 
was he thenceforth of "eorl"-right worthy. 

6. And if a merchant thrived, so that he fared thrice over 
the wide sea by his own means; then was he thenceforth of 
thane-right worthy. 

7. And if there a scholar were, who through learning 
thrived, so that he had holy orders, and served Christ; then 
was he thenceforth of rank and power so much worthy, as 
then to those orders rightfully belonged, if he himself con- 
ducted so as he should; unless he should misdo, so that he 
those orders' ministry might not minister. 

8. And if it happened, that any one a man in orders, or a 



ANGLO-SAXON LAWS 91 

stranger, anywhere injured, by word or work; then pertained 
it to king and to the bishop, that they that should make good, 
as they soonest might. 

31. This is the Ordinance how the Hundred shall be Held 

From the Laws of King Edgar 

First, that they meet always within four weeks : and that 
every man do justice to another. 

2. That a thief shall be pursued . . . 

If there be present need, let it be made known to the 
hundred-man, and let him [make it known] to the tithing- 
men ; and let them all go forth to where God may direct them 
to go: let them do justice on the thief, as it was formerly the 
enactment of Edmund. And let the ''ceap-gild" be paid to 
him who owns the cattle, and the rest be divided into two ; 
half to the hundred, half to the lord, excepting men; and let 
the lord take possession of the men. 

3. And the man who neglects this, and denies the doom of 
the hundred, and the same be afterwards proved against him ; 
let him pay to the hundred XXX. pence, and for the second 
time sixty pence; half to the hundred, half to the lord. If he 
do so a third time, let him pay half a pound: for the fourth 
time, let him forfeit all that he owns, and be an outlaw, un- 
less the king allow him to remain in the country. 

4. And we have ordained concerning unknown cattle ; that 
no one should possess it without the testimonies of the men 
of the hundred, or of the tithing-man ; and that he be a well 
trusty man : and, unless he have either of these, let no vouch- 
ing to warranty be allowed him. 

5. We have also ordained : if the hundred pursue a track 
into another hundred, that notice be given to the hundred- 
man, and that he then go with them. If he neglect this, let 
him pay thirty shillings to the king. 

6. If any one flinch from justice and escape, let him who 
held him to answer for the offence pay the ''angylde." And 
if any one accuse him of having sent him away, let him clear 
himself, as it is established in the country. 

7. In the hundred, as in any other "gemdt," we ordain: 
that folk-right be pronounced in every suit, and that a term 
be fixed when it shall be fulfilled. And he who shall break 
that term, unless it be his lord's decree, let him make "hot" 
with XXX. shillings, and, on the day fixed, fulfil that which 
he ought to have done before. 



92 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

8. An oxes bell, and a dog's collar, and a blast-horn ; either 
of these three shall be worth a shilling, and each is reckone.d 
an informer. 

9. Let the iron that is for the threefold ordeal weigh III 
pounds; and for the single, one pound. 

32. Here is the Ordinance of King Edgar 

From the Laws of King Edgar 

This is the ordinance that King Edgar, with the counsel of 
his "witan," ordained, in praise of God, and in honour to 
himself, and for the behoof of all his people. 

These then are first: that God's churches be entitled to 
every right; and that every tithe be rendered to the old 
minster to which the district belongs ; and that be then so 
paid, both from a thane's "inland," and from "geneat-land," 
so as the plough traverses it. 

Of Church-Scots 

But if there be any thane who on his "boc-land" has a 
church, at which there is a burial-place; let him give the 
third part of his own tithe to his church. If any one have a 
church at which there is not a burial-place, then, of the nine 
parts, let him give to his priest what he will ; and let every 
church-scot go to the old minster, according to every free 
hearth ; and let plough-alms be paid, when it shall be fifteen 
days over Easter. 

33. Of Tithes 

Front the Laws of King Edgar 

And let a tithe of every young be paid by Pentecost; and 
of the fruits of the earth by the equinox ; and every church- 
scot by Martinmass, on peril of the full "wite" which the 
doom-book specifies : and if any one will not then pay the 
tithe, as we have ordained, let the king's reeve go thereto, 
and the bishop's, and the mass-priest of the minster, and take 
by force a tenth part for the minster to which it is due ; and 
assign to him the ninth part; and let the eight parts be di- 
vided into two, and let the land-lord take possession of half, 
half the bishop ; be it a king's man, be it a thane's. 

34. Of the Hearth-Penny 

From the L aws of King Edgar 

And let every hearth-penny be rendered by St. Peter's 
mass-day : and he who shall not have paid it by that term, let 
him be led to Rome, and in addition thereto [pay] XXX. 



ANGLO-SAXON LAWS 93 

pence, and bring then a certificate thence, that he has there 
rendered so much ; and when he comes home, pay to the king 
a hundred and twenty shillings. And if again he will not 
pay it, let him be led again to Rome, and with another such 
"bot" ; and when he comes home again, pay to the king two 
hundred shillings. At the third time, if he then yet will not, 
let him forfeit all that he owns. 

35. Of Festivals and Fasts 

From the Laws of King Edgar 

And let the festivals of every Sunday be kept, from noon- 
tide of the Saturday, till the dawn of Monday, on peril of the 
"wite" which the doom-book specifies; and every other mass- 
day, as it may be commanded: and let every ordained fast be 
kept with every earnestness ; and every Friday's fast, unless 
it be a festival : and let soul-scot be paid for every Christian 
man to the minster to which it is due; and let every church- 
"grith" stand as it has best stood. 

36. Secular Ordinance 

From the Laws of King Edgar 

Now this is the secular ordinance which I will that it be 
held. This then is first what I will : that every man be 
worthy of "folk-right," as well poor as rich : and that right- 
eous dooms be judged to him ; and let there be such remission 
in the "bot" as may be becoming before God and tolerable 
before the world. 

IN CASE ANY ONE APPLY TO THE KING: AND OF TH^ "wEr"' 

And let no man apply to the king, in any suit, unless he at 
home may not be worthy of law, or cannot obtain law. If 
the law be too heavy, let him seek a mitigation of it from the 
king: and, for any "b5t"-worthy crime, let no man forfeit 
more than his "v/er." 

OF UNRIGHTEOUS JUDGMENT 

And let the judge who judges wrong to another pay to the 
king one hundred and twenty shillings as "bot" ; unless he 
dare to prove on oath, that he knew it not more rightly; and 
let him forfeit forever his thaneship; unless he will buy it of 
the king, so as he is willing to allow him: and let the bishop 
of the shire exact the "bot" into the king's hands. 

IN CASE ANY ONE ACCUSE ANOTHER 

And he who shall accuse another wrongfully, so that he, 
either in money or prosperity, be the worse ; if then the other 



94 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

can disprove that which any one would charge to him ; be he 
liable in his tongue; unless he make him compensation with 
his "wer." 

OF GEMOTS 

And let the hundred-"gemot" be attended as it was before 
fixed ; and thrice in the year let a "burh-gemot" be held ; and 
twice, a shire-"gem6t" ; and let there be present the bishop 
of the shire and the "ealdorman," and there both expound the 
law of God as the secular law. 

OF "borhs" 

And let every man so order that he have a "borh" ; and let 
the "borh" then bring and hold him to every justice; and if 
any one then do wrong and run away, let the "borh" bear 
that which he ought to bear. But if it be a thief, and if he 
can get hold of him within twelve months ; let him deliver 
him up to justice, and let be rendered to him what he before 
had paid. 

OF "tiht-bysig" persons 

And he who is "tyht-bysig," and is untrue to the people, 
and has shunned these "gemots" thrice ; then let there be 
chosen from the "gemot" those who shall ride to him, and 
then let him yet find a "borh" if he can : but if he cannot, let 
them seize him as they can, whether alive or dead; and take 
all that he owns ; and let the accuser be paid an "angylde" for 
his "ceap-gild" : and let the lord moreover take half, half the 
hundred; and if either a kinsman or a stranger refuse the 
riding, let him pay to the king a hundred and twenty shil- 
lings : and let a notorious thief seek whatever he may seek, 
or he who is found plotting against his lord, so that they 
never seek life; unless the king will grant them salvation of 
life. 

OF MONEY AND MEASURES 

And let one money pass thoughout the king's dominion; 
and that let no man refuse : and let one measure and one 
weight pass ; such as is observed at London and at Win- 
chester; and let the wey of wool go for CXXX. pence; and 
let no man sell it cheaper; and if any one sell it cheaper, 
either publicly or privately, let each pay XL. shillings to the 
king, both him who sells it, and him v/ho buys it. 

This then is what I will : that every man be under "borh," 
both within the "burhs," and without the "burhs"; and let 
witness be appointed to every "burh" and to every hundred. 



ANGLO-SAXON LAWS 95 

To every "burh," let there be cliosen XXXIII. as witness. 

To small "burhs," and in every hundred, XII.; unless ye 
desire more. 

And let every man, with their witness, buy and sell every 
of the chattels that he may buy or sell, either in a "burh" or 
in a wapentake; and let every of them, when he is first 
chosen as witness, give the oath that he never, neither for 
money, nor for love, nor for fear, will deny any of those 
things of which he was witness, nor declare any other thing 
in witness, save that alone which he saw or heard: and of 
such sworn men, let there be at every bargain two or three as 
witness. 



CHAPTER VI 

THE DANES IN ENGLAND 



37. The Danish Invasions 

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle 

The Danish invasions of England extended from 787 through 
three centuries. During this period there was no decade free 
from harrying and slaughter. Ireland and Scotland did not 
escape the ravagers, but England had to bear the brunt of the 
struggle. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle tells us of the first com- 
ing of the Danes in 787, and then marks the progress of the 
Danish power until this culminated in the reign of Canute. The 
selections given, from the Chronicle and from Asser's Life of 
Alfred, note but a few of the salient points in the history of the 
establishment of the Danish power. The works cited should be 
consulted for details. 

A. 787. This year king Bertric took to wife Eadburga, 
king Of fa's daughter; and in his day first came three ships 
of Northmen, out of Hseretha-land [Denmark]. And then 
the reve rode to the place, and would have driven them to the 
king's town, because he knew not who they were : and they 
there slew him. These were the first ships of Danishmen 
which sought the land of the English nation. 

A. 855. This year the heathen men, for the first time, 
remained over winter in Sheppey : . . . 

A. 878. This year, during midwinter, after twelfth night, 
the army stole away to Chippenham, and overran the land of 
the West-Saxons, and sat down there; and many of the 
people they drove beyond sea, and of the remainder the 
greater part they subdued and forced to obe)^ them, except 
king Alfred: and he, with a small band, with difficulty re- 
treated to the woods and to the fastnesses of the moors. And 
the same winter the brother of Hingwar and of Halfdene 
came with twenty-three ships to Devonshire in Wessex; and 
he was there slain, and with him eight hundred and forty 

96 



I 



THE DANES IN ENGLAND 97 

men of his army: and there was taken the war-flag which 
they called the Raven. After this, at Easter king Alfred 
with a small band constructed a fortress at Athelney; and 
from this fortress, w^ith that part of the men of Somerset 
which was nearest to it, from time to time they fought 
against the army. Then in the seventh week after Easter 
he rode to Brixton, on the east side of Selwood; and there 
came to meet him all the men of Somerset, and the men of 
Wiltshire, and that portion of the men of Hampshire which 
was on this side of the sea ; and they were joyful at his 
presence. On the following day he went from that station 
to Iglea [Iley], and on the day after this to Heddington, and 
there fought against the whole army, put them to flight, and 
pursued them as far as their fortress : and there he sat down 
fourteen days. And then the army delivered to him hostages, 
with many oaths, that they would leave his kingdom, and also 
promised him that their king should receive baptism : and 
this they accordingly fulfilled. And about three weeks after 
this king Gothrun came to him, with some thirty men who 
were of the most distinguished in the army, at Aller, which 
is near Athelney : and the king was his godfather at baptism ; 
and his chrism-loosing was at Wedmore : and he was twelve 
days with the king; and he greatly honoured him and his 
companions with gifts. 

{Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, for years given, ed. cited.) 

38. Alfred at Athelney 

Asser 

ASSER, a monk of St. David's, afterward Bishop of Sherborne, 
was an adviser and intimate of King Alfred. He wrote a Life of 
the king, which, though containing few facts not also to be found 
in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, is of interest and value. The 
following selection graphically describes the period of discour- 
agement which formed the prelude to the victories of the greatest 
of the early English kings, as well as the battle in which the 
power of the Danes was overthrown. 

The same year, after Easter, king Alfred, with a few fol- 
lowers, made for himself a stronghold in a place called Athel- 
ney, and from thence sallied with his vassals and the nobles 
of Somersetshire, to make frequent assaults upon the pagans. 
Also, in the seventh week after Easter, he rode to the stone 
of Egbert, w-hich is in the eastern part of the wood which is 
called Selwood, which means in Latin Silva Magna, the 
Great Wood, but in British Coit-mawr. Here he was met by 
all the neighbouring folk of Somersetshire, and Wiltshire, 
and Hampshire, who had not, for fear of the pagans, fled 



98 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

beyond the sea ; and when they saw the king alive after such 
great tribulation, they received him, as he deserved, with joy 
and acclamations, and encamped there for one night. When 
the following day dawned, the king struck his camp, and went 
to Okely, where he encamped for one night. The next morn- 
ing he removed to Edington, and there fought bravely and 
perseveringly against all the army of the pagans, whom, with 
the divine help, he defeated with great slaughter, and pur- 
sued them flying to their fortification. Immediately he slew 
all the men, and carried off all the booty that he could find 
without the fortress, which he immediately laid siege to with 
all his army; and when he had been there fourteen days, the 
pagans, driven by famine, cold, fear, and last of all by de- 
spair, asked for peace, on the condition that they should give 
the king as many hostages as he pleased, but should receive 
none of him in return, in which form they had never before 
made a treaty with any one. The king, hearing that, took 
pity on them, and received such hostages as he chose; after 
which the pagans swore, moreover, that they would imme- 
diately leave the kingdom; and their king, Gothrnn, promised 
to embrace Christianity, and receive baptism at king Alfred's 
hands. All of which articles he and his men fulfilled as they 
had promised. For after seven weeks Gothrun, king of the 
pagans, with thirty men chosen from the army, came to Al- 
fred at a place called Aller, near Athelney, and there king 
Alfred, receiving him as his son by adoption, raised him up 
from the holy laver of baptism on the eighth day, at a royal 
villa named Wedmore, where the holy chrism was poured 
upon him. After his baptism he remained twelve nights 
with the king, who, with all his nobles, gave him many fine 
houses. 

(Asser's Annals of the Reign of Alfred the Great, ed. J. A. Giles, 
in Six Old English Chronicles, London, 1872.) 

39. Alfred and Guthrum's Peace 

Front the Laws of King Alfred 

After the defeat of Guthrum and the Danes in 878, a peace 
was sworn between the rival forces. This was recorded in the 
treaty of Chippenham — sometimes incorrectly called the Peace 
of Wedmore. By this treaty, England was divided between 
Alfred and Guthrum, and laws were provided for the government 
of the respective portions. 

This is the peace that king Alfred, and king Guthrum, and 
the "witan" of all the English nation, and all the people that 
are in East-Anglia, have all ordained and with oaths con- 



THE DANES IN ENGLAND 99 

firmed, for themselves and for their descendants, as well for 
born as for unborn, who reck of God's mercy or of ours. 

1. First, concerning- our land-boundaries: up on the 
Thames, and then up on the Lea, and along the Lea unto its 
source, then right to Bedford, then up the Ouse unto Wat- 
ling-Street. 

2. Then is this: if a man be slain, we estimate all equally 
dear, English and Danish, at VIIL half-marks of pure gold ; 
except the "ceorl" who resides on "gafol-land," and their 
"liesings" : they also are equally dear, either at CC. shillings. 

3. And if a king's thane be accused of man-slaying, if he 
dare to clear himself, let him do that with XIL king's thanes. 
If any one accuse that man who is of less degree than the 
king's thane, let him clear himself with XL of his equals, 
and with one king's thane. And so in every suit which may 
be for more than IV. "mancuses." And if he dare not, let 
him pay for it three-fold, as it may be valued. 

OF WARRANTORS 

4. And that every man know his warrantor for men, and 
for horses, and for oxen. 

5. And we all ordained on that day that the oaths were 
sworn, that neither bond nor free might go to the host with- 
out leave, no more than any of them to us. But if it happen, 
that from necessity any of them will have traffic with us, or 
we with them, with cattle and with goods, that is to be al- 
lowed in this wise; that hostages be given in pledge of peace, 
and as evidence whereby it may be known that the party has 
a clean back. 

{Aftcient Laws and histiiiites of England, ed. cited. 

40. The Second Period of Danish Invasion 

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle 

For many years after the peace between Alfred and Guthrum 
the Danes refrained from attacking England; this not so much 
because of the treaty, as because of the strong kings who suc- 
ceeded Alfred. But with ^thelred the Redeless came the second 
series of invasions. These led to the overthrow of the English 
kings and the establishment of Canute upon the throne. 

A. 980. In this year abbat Ethelgar was consecrated bishop 
on the 6th before the Nones of May, to the episcopal seat at 
Selsey. And in the same year was Southampton ravaged 
by a ship-force, and the most part of the townsmen sfain, and 
led captive. And that same year was Thanet-land ravaged 

I. of p. 



160 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

by a ship-force, and the most part of the townsmen slain, and 
led captive. And that same year was Legecester-shire 
[Chester] ravaged by a northern ship-force. In this year 
St. Dunstan and Alfere the ealdorman fetched the holy king's 
body, St. Edward's, from Wareham, and bore it with much 
solemnity to Shaftsbury. 

A. 991. This year was Ipswich ravaged; and after that, 
very shortly, was Britnoth the ealdorman slain at Maldon. 
And in that year it was decreed that tribute, for the first time, 
should be given to the Danish-men, on account of the great 
terror which they caused by the sea-coast; that was at first 
ten thousand pounds : this counsel was first given by arch- 
bishop Siric. 

A. 994. In this year came Olave and Sweyn to London, 
on the nativity of St. Mary, with ninety-four ships ; and they 
then continued fighting stoutly against the city, and would 
also have set fire to it. But they there sustained more harm 
and evil than they ever supposed that any citizens would be 
able to do unto them. But the holy mother of God, on that 
day, shewed her mercy to the citizens and delivered them 
from their foes. And they then went- thence, and wrought 
the utmost evil that ever any army could do, by burning, and 
plundering, and by man-slaying, both by the sea-coast and 
among the East-Saxons, and in the land of Kent, and in Sus- 
sex, and in Hampshire. And at last they took to themselves 
horses, and rode as far as they w^ould, and continued doing 
unspeakable evil. Then the king and his witan decreed that 
they should be sent to, and promised tribute and food, on con- 
dition that they should cease from their plundering: w^hich 
terms they accepted. And then all the army came to South- 
ampton, and there took up their winter-quarters : and there 
they were victualled from all the realm of the West-Saxons, 
and they were paid sixteen thousand pounds of money. Then 
the king sent bishop Elphege [IL] and Ethelwerd the ealdor- 
man after king Olave, and the while, hostages were delivered 
to the ships; and they then led Olave with much worship to 
the king at Andover. And king Ethelred received him at 
the bishop's hands, and royally gifted him. And then Olave 
made a covenant with him, even as he also fulfilled, that he 
never again would come hostilely to the English nation. 

A. 1002. . . . And in that year the king ordered all the 



THE DANES IN ENGLAND loi 

Danish-men who were in England to be slain. This was 
done on St. Brice's mass-day . . . 

A. loii. In this year sent the king and his witan to the 
army, and desired peace, and promised them tribute and food, 
on condition that they would cease from their plundering. 
They had then overrun, ist, East-Anglia, and 2d, Essex, and 
3d, Middlesex, and 4th, Oxfordshire, and 5th, Cambridge- 
shire, and 6th, Hertfordshire, and 7th, Buckinghamshire, 
and 8th, Bedfordshire, and 9th, half of Huntingdonshire, and 
loth, much of Northamptonshire; and south of Thames, all 
Kent, and Sussex, and Hastings, and Surry, and Berkshire, 
and Hampshire, and much of Wiltshire. All these misfor- 
tunes befel us through unwise counsel, that they were not in 
time offered tribute, or fought against ; but when they had 
done the most evil, then peace and truce were made with 
them. And nevertheless, for all the truce and tribute, they 
went everywhere in bands, and plundered our miserable 
people, and robbed and slew them . . . 

A. 1016. . . . The army then went again up into Essex, and 
passed into Mercia, and destroyed whatever it over-ran. 

When the king learned that the army was upward, then 
assembled he, for the fifth time, all the English nation, and 
followed after them, and overtook them in Essex, at the 
down which is called Assingdon : and there they strenuously 
joined battle. Then did Edric the ealdorman, as he had oft 
before done, begin the flight first with the Maisevethians, 
and so betrayed his royal lord and the whole people of the 
English race. There Canute had the victory; and all the 
English nation fought against him . . . 

A. 1017. In this year king Canute obtained the whole 
realm of the English race, and divided it into four parts: 
Wessex to himself, and East-Anglia to Thurkill, and Mercia 
to Edric, and North-humbria to Eric. 

A. 1017. This year Canute was chosen king. 

{Afi£-/o-Saxon Chronicle for years given, ed. dited.) 

41. The Laws of Canute 

Ancient Laws and Institutes of England 

The examples of the laws of the Danish kings of England 
prove, among other things, the continuity of the legal principles 
developed in the days of the Anglo-Saxon kings. They also 
demonstrate the justice and equity of Canute, a king whose great- 
ness endeared him, despite his alien birth, to that heterogeneous 
mass which was. called the English People. 



I02 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

THAT EVERY MAN SHALL BE IN A TITHING 

And we will, that every freeman be brought into a hundred, 
and into a tithing, who wishes to be entitled to "lad" or to 
"wer," in case any one shall slay him after he is XII. years 
of age; or let him not afterwards be entitled to any free 
rights, be he "heorth-foest," be he follower. And that every 
one be brought into a hundred and in "borh" ; and let the 
"borh" hold and lead him to every plea. Many a powerful 
man will, if he can and may, defend his man in whatever way 
it seems to him that he may the more easily defend him; 
whether as a freeman or a "theow." But we will not allow 
that injustice. 

SECULAR DOOMS 

Cap. 17. And let no one apply to the king unless he may 
not be entitled to any justice within his hundred; and let the 
hundred gemot be applied to under penalty or the "wite," so 
as it is right to apply to it. 

Cap. 18. And thrice a year let there be a "burh-gemot," 
and twice a "shire-gemot" ; under penalty of the "wite," as is 
right, unless there be need oftener. And let there be present 
the bishop of the shire and the ealdorman, and there let both 
expound as well the law of God as the secular law. 

Cap. 19. And let no man take any distress either in the 
shire or out of the shire, before he has twice demanded his 
right in the hundred. If at the third time he have no jus- 
tice, then let him go at the fourth time to the "shire-gemot," 
and let the shire appoint him a fourth term. If that then 
fail, let him take leave either from hence or from thence, 
that he may seize his own. 

Cap. 20. And we will that every free man be brought into 
a hundred and a tithing . . . And that every one be brought 
into a hundred and in "borh"; and let the "borh" hold and 
lead him to every plea . . . 

Cap. 21. And we will that every man above XII. years 
make oath that he will neither be a thief nor cognisant of 
theft. 

Cap. 70. This then is the alleviation which it is my will 
to secure to all the people of that which they before this were 
too much oppressed with. That then is first; that I com- 
mand all my reeves that they justly provide on my own, and 
maintain me therewith ; and that no man need give them 
anything as "feorm-fultum" unless he himself be willing. 
And if any one after that demand a "wite," let him be liable 
in his "wer" to the king. 



THE DANES IN ENGLAND 103 

Cap. 71. And if any one depart this life intestate, be it 
through his neglect, be it through sudden death ; then let not 
the lord draw more from his property than his lawful heriot. 
And according to his direction, let the property be distributed 
very justly to the wife and children and relations, to every 
one according to the degree that belongs to him. 

Cap. 72. And let the heriots be as it is fitting to the 
degree. An elor's such as thereto belongs, that is, eight 
horses, four saddled and four unsaddled, and four helmets 
and four coats of mail, and eight spears and as many shields, 
and four swords and 200 mancuses of gold. And after that, 
a king's thegn's, of those who are nearest to him ; four horses, 
two saddled and two unsaddled, and two swords and four 
spears and as many shields, and a helmet and a coat of mail 
and fifty mancuses of gold. And of the medial thegns, a 
horse and his trappings and his arms; or his "healsfang" in 
Wessex ; and in Mercia two pounds ; and in East Anglia two 
pounds. And the heriot of a king's thegn among the Danes, 
who has his soken, four pounds. And if he have further 
relation to the king, two horses, one saddled and the other 
unsaddled, and one sword and two spears and two shields 
and fifty mancuses of gold ; and he who is of less means, two 
pounds. 

Cap. 81. And I will that every man be entitled to his hunt- 
ing in wood and in field, on his own possession. And let 
every one forego my hunting: take notice where I will have 
it untrespassed on, under penalty of the full "wite." 

Cap. 83. And I will that every man be entitled to "grith" 
to the "gemot" and from the "gemot," except he be a noto- 
rious miei. {Ancient Laws and Institutes of England, ed. Thorpe.) 

42. Charter of Canute 

York Gospel Book 

The Charter of Liberties given by Canute should be studied in 
connection with those later charters which render notable the 
reigns of Henry I. and John. The even-handed justice assured 
to all men, both English and Danes, finds a parallel in the laws 
enforced by William the Conqueror. 

Canute, the king, greets his archbishops and his suffragan 
bishops, and Thurcyl the earl, and all his earls and all his 
people, twelfhynde and twyhynde, clerk and lay, in England, 
friendly ; and I do you to wit that I will be kind lord and un- 
failing to God's rights and to right secular law. I took to 
my remembrance the writing and the word that archbishop 
Lyfing brought me from Rome from the Pope, that I should 



104 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

everywhere maintain the glory of God and put down wrong, 
and work full peace by the might that God would give me. 
Now I shrank not from my cost while hostility was in hand 
among you; now I with God's help took away at my cost 
that of which men told me that it threatened me with more 
harm than well pleased us ; and then went I myself into Den- 
mark, with the men that went with me, from whence most 
harm came to you; and that have I with God's help taken 
precautions for that never henceforth should enmity come to 
you from thence whilst ye men rightly hold, and my life 
lasteth. Now I thank God Almighty for his help and mercy, 
that I have so allayed the great harms that threatened us, 
that we need expect from thence no harm, but to full peace 
and to deliverance if need be. Now I will that we all rever- 
ently thank God Almighty for the mercy that he has done for 
our help. Now I beseech my archbishops and all my suf- 
fragan bishops that they all be attentive about God's right, 
every one in his district which is committed to him; and 
also my ealdormen I command that they help the bishops to 
God's right and to my royal authority and to the behoof of 
all the people. If any be so bold, clerk or lay, Dane or Eng- 
lish, as to go against God's law and against my royal author- 
ity, or against secular law, and be unwilling to make amends, 
and to alter according to my bishop's teaching, then I pray 
Thurcyl my earl, and also command him, that he bend that 
unrighteous one to right if he can ; if he cannot, then will I 
with the strength of us both that he destroy him in the land 
or drive him from out of the land, be he better, be he worse ; 
and also I command all my reeves, by my friendship and by 
all that they own, and by their own life, that they everywhere 
hold my people rightly and do judge right judgments by the 
shire bishop's witness, and do such mercy therein as the shire 
bishop thinks right, as a man may attain to; and if any har- 
bour a thief, or neglect the pursuit, be he answerable to me 
as the thief should, unless he can clear himself towards me 
with full purgation. And I will that all people, clerk and lay, 
hold fast Edgar's law, which all men have chosen and sworn 
to at Oxford, for that all the bishops say that it right deeply 
offends God, that a man break oaths or pledges; and like- 
wise they further teach us that we should with all might and 
main, alike seek, love, and worship the eternal merciful God, 
and eschew all unrighteousness ; that is, slaying of kinsmen, 
and murder, and perjury, and witchcraft and enchantment, 
and adultery, and incest; and also they charge in the name of 



THE DANES IN ENGLAND 105 

God Almighty, and of all his saints, that no man be so bold 
as to marry a hallowed nun or mynchen ; and if any have 
done so, be he outlaw towards God, and excommunicated 
from all Christendom, and answerable to the king in all he 
has, unless he quickly alter and deeply make amends to God; 
and further still, we admonish that men keep Sunday's festi- 
val with all their might, and observe it from Saturday's noon 
to Monday's dawning; and no man be so bold that he either 
go to market or seek any court on that holy day ; and all men, 
poor and rich, seek their church, and ask forgiveness for 
their sins, and keep earnestly every ordained fast, and earn- 
estly honour the saints that the mass priests shall bid us, that 
we may altogether through the mercy of the everlasting God 
and the intercession of his saints come to the joy of the king- 
dom of heaven, and dwell with him who liveth and reigneth 
for ever without end. Amen. 

{Select Charters and other Illustrations of English Constitutional History, /rom 
the Earliest Times to the Reign of Edward I., ed. William Stubbs, Oxford, 1870.) 

43. Letter of Canute to his People 

Florence of U 'orcester 

The letter of Canute to his people after his return from Rome 
is of great value because of the insight into the king's character 
given in its quaint phraseology. 

Canute, king of all England, and of Denmark, Norway, and 
part of Sweden, to Ethelnote, metropolitan, and Alfric, arch- 
bishop of York, and to all the bishops and prelates, and to the 
whole nation of the English, both the nobles and the com- 
mons, greeting : — 

I notify to you that I have lately taken a journey to Rome, 
to pray for the forgiveness of my sins, and for the welfare of 
my dominions, and the people under my rule. I had long 
since vowed this journey to God, but I have been hitherto 
prevented from accomplishing it by the affairs of my king- 
dom and other causes of impediment. I now return most 
humble thanks to my God Almighty for suffering me in my 
lifetime to visit the sanctuary of his apostles, SS. Peter and 
Paul, and all others which I could find either within or with- 
out the city of Rome, and there in person reverentially wor- 
ship according to my desire. I have performed this chiefly, 
because I have learnt from wise men that St. Peter the 
apostle has received from God great power in binding and in 
loosing, and carries the keys of the kingdom of heaven ; and 
therefore I esteemed it very profitable to seek his special 
patronage with the Lord. 



io6 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

Be it known to you that, at the celebration of Easter, a 
great assembly of nobles was present with our lord, the pope 
John, and Conrad the emperor; that is to say, all the princes 
of the nations from Mount Garganus to the neighbouring sea. 
All these received me with honour and presented me with 
magnificent gifts; but more especially was I honoured by the 
emperor with various gifts and valuable presents, both in 
gold and silver vessels, and in palls and very costly robes. 
I spoke with the emperor himself, and the lord pope, and the 
princes who were there, in regard to the wants of my people, 
English as well as Danes; that there should be granted to 
them more equal justice and greater security in their jour- 
neys to Rome, and that they should not be hindered by so 
many barriers on the road, nor harassed by unjust tolls. The 
emperor assented to my demands, as well as king Rodolph, in 
whose dominions these barriers chiefly stand; and all the 
princes made edicts that my people, the merchants as well as 
those who go to pay their devotions, shall pass to and fro in 
their journeys to Rome in peace, and under the security of 
just laws, free from all molestation of the guards of barriers 
or the receivers of tolls. I made further complaint to my 
lord the pope, and expressed my high displeasure, that my 
archbishops are sorely aggrieved by the demand of immense 
sums of money, when, according to custom, they resort to the 
apostolical see to obtain the pallium ; and it is decreed that it 
shall no longer be done. All things, therefore, which I re- 
quested for the good of my people from my lord the pope, and 
the emperor, and king Rodolph, and the other princes through 
whose territories our road to Rome lies, they have most freely 
granted, and even ratified their concessions by oath ; to which 
four archbishops, twenty bishops, and an innumerable multi- 
tude of dukes and nobles who were there present, are wit- 
nesses. Wherefore I return most hearty thanks to Almighty 
God for my having successfully accomplished all that I had 
desired, as I had resolved in my mind, and having satisfied 
my wishes to the fullest extent. 

Be it known therefore to all of you, that I have humbly 
vowed to the Almighty God himself henceforward to amend 
my life in all respects, and to rule the kingdom and the people 
subject to me with justice and clemency, giving equitable 
judgments in all matters; and if, through the intemperance 
of youth or negligence, I have hitherto exceeded the bounds 
of justice in any of my acts, I intend by God's aid to make 
an entire change for the better. I therefore adjure and com- 



THE DANES IN ENGLAND 107 

mand my counsellors to whom I have entrusted the affairs of 
my kingdom, that henceforth they neither commit themselves, 
nor suffer to prevail, any sort of injustice throughout my 
dominions, either from fear of me, or from favour to any 
powerful person. I also command all sheriffs and magis- 
trates throughout my whole kingdom, as they tender my 
regard and their own safety, that they use no unjust violence 
to any man, rich or poor, but that all, high and low, rich or 
poor, shall enjoy alike impartial law; from which they are 
never to deviate, either on account of royal favour, respect 
of person in the great, or for the sake of amassing money 
wrongfully, for I have no need to accumulate wealth by 
iniquitous exactions. 

I wish you further to know that, returning by the way I 
went, I am now going to Denmark to conclude a treaty for a 
solid peace, all the Danes concurring, with those nations and 
peoples who would have taken my life and crown if it had 
been possible ; but this they were not able to accomplish, God 
bringing their strength to nought. — May He, of his merciful 
kindness, uphold me in my sovereignty and honour, and 
henceforth scatter and bring to nought the power and might 
of all my adversaries ! When, therefore, I shall have made 
peace with the surrounding nations, and settled and reduced 
to order all my dominions in the East, so that we shall have 
nothing to fear from war or hostilities in any quarter, I pro- 
pose to return to England as early in the summer as I shall 
be able to fit out my fleet. I have sent this epistle before 
me in order that my people may be gladdened at my success; 
because, as you yourselves know, I have never spared, nor 
will I spare, myself or my exertions, for the needful service 
of my whole people. I now therefore command and adjure 
all my bishops and the governors of my kingdom, by the duty 
they owe to God and myself, to take care that before I come 
to England all dues belonging to God, according to the old 
laws, be fully discharged; namely, plough-alms, the tythe of 
animals born in the current year, and the pence payable to 
St. Peter at Rome, whether from towns or vills; and in the 
middle of August the tythes of corn ; and at the feast of St. 
Martin the first-fruits of grain [payable] to every one's 
parish church, called in English ciric-sceat. If these and 
such-like dues be not paid before I come, those who make 
default will incur fines to the king, according to the law, 
which will be strictly inforced without mercy. Farewell. 

{Chronicle of Florence of Worcester, for yeario^i, trans, by T.Forester, Lond., 1854.) 



PART III 



. FROIwJlHi, CONQUEST TO THE 

CHARTER 



(1066-I215) 



109 



CHAPTER VII 

THE NORMAN RULE 



44. Invasion of England by Harold Hardrada and Tostig — Invasion 
by William, Duke of Normandy — Battle of Stamford Bridge — 
Battle of Hastings 

Ordericus Vitalis 

No good contemporary account of the invasion of the Nor- 
mans exists. The writers of the succeeding century are quite as 
unsatisfactory as their predecessors. The account by Ordericus 
Vitalis (1075 to circa 1143) which is given below, though erro- 
neous in many particulars, presents the most vivid description 
of the fall of Harold which remains to us. Vitalis was an 
Englishman, born on the banks of the Severn. His life was 
spent in the study of history, in collecting historical materials, 
and in writing his Ecclesiastical History of England and Nor- 
mandy. Though it is marred by inaccuracies, it is valuable as 
a source of the history of the Norman Period. 

In the month of August, Harold, king of Norway, and 
Tostig, with a powerful fleet set sail over the wide sea, and, 
steering for England with a favourable apartic.or north wind, 
landed in Yorkshire, which was the first object of their in- 
vasion. Meanwhile, Harold of England, having intelligence 
of the descent of the Norwegians, withdrew his ships and 
troops from Hastings and Pevensey, and the other sea-ports 
on the coast lying opposite to Neustria, which he had care- 
fully guarded with a powerful armament during the whole of 
the year, and threw himself unexpectedly, with a strong force 
by hasty marches on his enemies from the north. A hard- 
fought battle ensued, in which there was great effusion of 
blood on both sides, vast numbers being slain with brutal 
rage. At last the furious attacks of the English secured 
them the victory, and the king of Norway as well as Tostig, 
with their whole army, were slain. The field of battle may 
be easily discovered by travellers, as great heaps of the bones 
of the slain lie there to this day, memorials of the prodigious 
numbers which fell on both sides. 

Ill 



112 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

While however the attention of the English was diverted 
by the invasion of Yorkshire, and by God's permission they 
neglected, as I have already mentioned, to guard the coast, 
the Norman fleet, which for a whole month had been waiting 
for a south wind in the mouth of the river Dive and the 
neighbouring harbours, took advantage of a favourable breeze 
from the west to gain the roads of St, Valeri. While it lay 
there innumerable vows and prayers were offered for the 
safety of themselves and their friends, and floods of tears 
were shed. For the intimate friends and relations of those 
who were to remain at home, witnessing the embarcation of 
fifty thousand knights and men-at-arms, with a large body of 
infantry, who had to brave the dangers of the sea, and to 
attack an unknown people on their own soil, were moved to 
tears and sighs, and full of anxiety both for themselves and 
their countrymen, their minds fluctuating between fear and 
hope. Duke William and the whole army committed them- 
selves to God's protection, with prayers, and offerings, and 
vows, and accompanied a procession from the church, carry- 
ing the relics of St. Valeri, confessor of Christ, to obtain a 
favorable wind. At last when by God's grace it suddenly 
came round to the quarter which was the object of so many 
prayers, the duke, full of ardour, lost no time in embarking 
the troops, and giving the signal for hastening the departure 
of the fleet. The Norman expedition, therefore, crossed the 
sea on the night of the third of the calends of October [29th 
September], which the Catholic Church observes as the feast 
of St. Michael the archangel, and meeting with no resistance, 
and landing safely on the coast of England, took possession 
of Pevensey and Hastings, the defence of which was en- 
trusted to a chosen body of soldiers, to cover a retreat and 
guard the fleet. 

Meanwhile the English usurper, after having put to the 
sword his brother Tostig, and his royal enemy, and slaugh- 
tered their immense army, returned in triumph to London. 
As however wordly prosperity soon vanishes like smoke be- 
fore the wind, Harold's rejoicings for his bloody victory 
were soon darkened by the threatening clouds of a still 
heavier storm. Nor was he suffered long to enjoy the secu- 
rity procured by his brother's death ; for a hasty messenger 
brought him the intelligence that the Normans had embarked. 
Learning soon afterwards that they had actually landed, he 
made preparations for a fresh conflict. For his intrepidity 
was dauntless, and his conduct of affairs admirable, while 



THE NORMAN RULE 113 

his personal strength was great, his presence commanding, 
and he had the arts of a persuasive eloquence, and of a 
courtesy which endeared him to his supporters. Still his 
mother Githa, who was much afflicted by the death of her 
son Tostig, and his other faithful friends, dissuaded him 
from engaging in battle with the Normans ; his brother, Earl 
Gurth, thus addressing him : "It is best, dearest brother and 
lord, that your courage should be tempered by discretion. 
You are worn by the conflict with the Norwegians from 
which you are only just come, and you are in eager haste to 
give battle to the Normans. Allow yourself, I pray you, some 
time for rest. Reflect also, in your wisdom, on the oath you 
have taken to the duke of Normandy. Beware of incurring 
the guilt of perjury, lest by so great a crime you draw ruin 
on yourself and the forces of this nation, and stain forever 
the honour of our own race. For myself, I am bound by no 
oaths, I am under no obligations to Count William. I am 
therefore in a position to fight with him undauntedly in de- 
fence of our native soil. But do you, my brother, rest awhile 
in peace, and wait the issue of the contest, so that the liberty 
which is the glory of England, may not be ruined by your 
fall." 

Harold was very indignant at this speech. Holding in 
contempt the wholesome advice of his friends, he loaded his 
brother with reproaches for his faithful counsel, and even 
forgot himself so far as to kick his mother when she hung 
about him in her too great anxiety to detain him with her. 
For six days Harold sent forth the summons to call the 
people to arms from all quarters, and having assembled vast 
numbers of the English, he led them by forced marches 
against the enemy. It was his design to take them unawares, 
and crush them at once by a night attack, or, at least, by a 
sudden onset, and, that they might not escape by sea, he 
caused a fleet of seventy ships, full of soldiers, to guard the 
coast. Duke William, having intelligence of Harold's ap- 
proach, ordered his troops to take to their arms on the morn- 
ing of Saturday. He then heard mass, strengthening both 
body and soul by partaking of the consecrated host ; he also 
reverently suspended from his neck the holy relics on which 
Harold had sworn. Many of the clergy had followed the 
Norman army, among who were two bishops. Odo, of 
Bayeux, and Geoffrey, of Coutances, with attendant clerks 
and monks, whose duty it was to aid the war with their 
prayers and counsels. The battle commenced at the third 



114 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

hour of the Ides [14th] of October, and was fought despe- 
rately the whole day, with the loss of many thousand men on 
both sides. The Norman duke drew up his light troops, con- 
sisting of archers and men armed with cross-bows, in the 
first line; the infantry in armour formed the second rank; 
and in the third were placed the cavalry, in the centre of 
which the duke stationed himself with the flower of his 
troops, so as to be able to issue his commands, and give sup- 
port to every part of the army. 

On the other side, the English troops, assembled from all 
parts of the neighborhood, took post at a place which was 
anciently called Senlac, many of them personally devoted to 
the cause of Harold, and all to that of their country, which 
they were resolved to defend against the foreigners. Dis- 
mounting from their horses, on which it was determined not 
to rely, they formed a solid column of infantry, and thus 
stood firm in the position they had taken. 

Turstin, son of Rollo, bore the standard of Normandy. 
The sound of the trumpets in both armies was the terrible 
signal for beginning the battle. The Normans made the first 
attack with ardour and gallantry, their infantry rushing for- 
ward to provoke the English, and spreading wounds and 
dea^h through their ranks by showers of arrows and bolts. 
The English, on their side, made a stout resistance, each 
man straining his powers to the utmost. The battle raged 
for some time with the utmost violence between both parties. 
At length the indomitable bravery of the English threw the 
Bretons, both horse and foot, and the other auxiliary troops 
composing the left wing, into confusion, and, in their rout, 
they drew with them almost all the rest of the duke's army, 
who, in their panic, believed that he was slain. The duke, 
perceiving that large bodies from the enemy had broken 
their ranks in pursuit of his flying troops, rode up to the 
fugitives and checked their retreat, loudly threatening them, 
and striking with his lance. Taking off his helmet, and ex- 
posing his naked head, he shouted : "See, I am here ; I am 
still living, and, by God's help, shall yet have the victory." 
Suddenly the courage of the fugitives was restored by these 
bold words of the duke; and, intercepting some thousands of 
their pursuers, they cut them down in a moment. In this 
manner, the Normans, twice again pretending to retreat, and 
when they were followed by the English, suddenly wheeling 
their horses, cut their pursuers off from the main body, sur- 
rounded and slew them. The ranks of the English were 



THE NORMAN RULE 115 

much thinned by these dangerous feints, through which they 
fell separated from each other ; so that, when thousands were 
thus slaughtered, the Normans attacked the survivors with 
still greater vigour. They were charged home by the troops 
of Maine, France, Brittany, and Aquitaine, and great num- 
bers of them miserably perished. 

Among others present at this battle, were Eustace, Count 
de Boulogne, William, son of Richard, Count d'Evreux, 
Geoffrey, son of Robert, Count de Mortagne, William Fitz- 
Osbern, Robert, son of Robert de Beaumont, a novice in 
arms, Aimer, Viscount de Thouars, Earl Hugh, the con- 
stable, Walter Giffard, and Ralph Toni, Hugh de Grant- 
mesnil, and William de Warrenne, with many other knights 
illustrious for their military achievements, and whose names 
merit a record in the annals of history amongst the most 
famous warriors. Duke William surpassed them all in cour- 
age and conduct ; for he nobly performed the duties of a gen- 
eral, staying the flight of his troops, re-animating their 
courage, their comrade in the greatest dangers, and more 
frequently calling on them to follow where he led, than com- 
manding them to advance before him. He had three horses 
killed under him in the battle ; thrice he remounted, and did 
not suffer his steeds to be long unavenged. Shields, helmets, 
and coats of mail were shivered by the furious and impatient 
thrusts of his sword ; some he dashed to the earth with his 
shield, and was at all times as ready to cover and protect his 
friends, as to deal death among his foes. 

Although the battle was fought with the greatest fury 
from nine o'clock in the morning, King Harold was slain in 
the first onset, and his brother Earl Leofwin fell some time 
afterwards, with many thousands of the royal army. To- 
wards evening, the English finding that their king and the 
chief nobles of the realm, with a great part of their army, 
had fallen, while the Normans still showed a bold front, and 
made desperate attacks on all who made any resistance, they 
had recourse to flight as expeditiously as they could. Vari- 
ous were the fortunes which attended their retreat; some 
recovering their horses, some on foot, attempted to escape 
by the highways ; more sought to save themselves by striking 
across the country. The Normans, finding the English com- 
pletely routed, pursued them vigorously all Sunday night, 
but not without suffering a great loss ; for, galloping onward 
in hot pursuit, they fell unawares, horses and armour, into 
an ancient trench, overgrown and concealed by rank grass, 



ii6 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

and men in their armour and horses rolling over each other, 
were crushed and smothered. This accident restored con- 
fidence to the routed English, for, perceiving the advantage 
given them by the mouldering rampart and a succession of 
ditches, they rallied in a body, and, making a sudden stand, 
caused the Normans severe loss. At this place Eugenulf, 
lord of Laigle, and many others fell, the number of Normans 
who perished being, as reported by some who were present, 
nearly fifteen thousand. Thus did Almighty God, on the eve 
of the Ides of October, punish in various ways the innumer- 
able sinners in both armies. For, on this Saturday, the Nor- 
mans butchered with remorseless cruelty thousands of the 
English, who long before had murdered the innocent prince 
Alfred and his attendants ; and on the Saturday before the 
present battle, had massacred without pity King Harold ana 
Earl Tostig, with multitudes of Norwegians. The righteous 
Judge avenged the English on Sunday night, when the furi- 
ous Normans were precipitated into the concealed trench ; for 
they had broken the divine law by their boundless covetous- 
ness ; and, as the Psalmist says : "Their feet were swift to 
shed blood," whereupon, "sorrow and unhappiness was in 
their ways." 

Duke William, perceiving that the English troops suddenly 
rallied, did not halt; and when he found Count Eustace with 
fifty men-at-arms retreating, and the count wished him to 
have the signal sounded for recalling the pursuers, he com- 
manded him with a loud voice to stand firm. The count, 
however, familiarly approaching the duke, whispered in his 
ear that it would be safer to retreat, predicting his sudden 
death if he persisted in the pursuit. While he was saying 
this, Eustace received a blow between the shoulders, so vio- 
lent that the noise of the stroke was plainly heard, and it 
caused blood to flow from his mouth and nostrils, and he 
was borne off b}^ his comrades in a dying state. 

The victory being secured, the duke returned to the field 
of battle, where he viewed the dreadful carnage, which could 
not be seen without commiseration. There the flower of the 
youth and nobility of England covered the ground far and 
near stained with blood. Harold could not be discovered 
by his features, but was recognized by other tokens, and his 
corpse, being borne to the duke's camp, was, by order of the 
conqueror, delivered to William Mallet for interment near 
the sea-shore, which had long been guarded by his arms. 

{T/ie Ecclesiastical History of England and Normandy, by Ordericus Vitalis. 
Trans. T. Forester, London, 1853, book III, c. 14.) 



THE NORMAN RULE 117 

45. Coronation Oath of William the Conqueror 

Flore7ice of Worcester 

The coronation oaths of the sovereigns of England have been 
of varying force. In that of William the Norman is expressed 
in a few strong words all that other rulers promised with more 
of detail. See also Nos. 89, 148. 

Having first, as the archbishop required, sworn before the 
altar of St. Peter the Apostle, in the presence of the clergy 
and people, to defend the holy churches of God and their 
governors, and also to rule over the w^hole people subject to 
him justly and with royal providence ; to enact and to pre- 
serve right law, and straitly to forbid violence and unjust 
judgments. 

(Chronicle of Florence of Worcester, ed. cited. 

46. The Administration of William 

Ordericus Vitalis 

The administration of William the Norman has been the object 
of varied criticism. Perhaps the best contemporary view can be 
found in the following excerpt from Ordericus Vitalis, 

After his coronation in London, King William ordered 
many affairs with prudence, justice, and clemency. Some 
of these concerned the profit and honour of that city, others 
were for the advantage of the whole nation, and the rest were 
intended for the benefit of the church. He enacted some 
laws founded on admirable principles. No suitor ever de- 
manded justice of this king without obtaining it: he con- 
demned none but those whom it would have been unjust to 
acquit. He enjoined his nobles to comport themselves with 
grave dignity, joining activity to right judgment, having con- 
stantly before their eyes the Eternal King who had given 
them the victory. He forbade their oppressing the con- 
quered, reminding them that they were their own equals by 
their Christian profession, and that they must be cautious 
not to excite revolt by their unjust treatment of those whom 
they had fairly subdued. He prohibited all riotous assem- 
blages, murder, and robbery, and as he restrained the people 
by force of arms, he set bounds to arms by the laws. The 
taxes and all things concerning the royal revenues were so 
regulated as not to be burdensome to the people. Robbers, 
plunderers, and malefactors had no asylum in his dominions. 
Merchants found the ports and highways open, and were pro- 
tected against injury. Thus the first acts of his reign were 
all excellent, and eminent for the great benefits flowing from 



ii8 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

good government conferred on his subjects, which were con- 
firmed by perseverance in a right course, with plain indica- 
tions of a successful result. 

{Ordericus Vitalis, ed. cited, book IV, c. i.) 

47. The Character of William 

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle 

William of Normandy was of a character too subtle to be 
readily comprehended. The estimate in the Anglo-Saxon 
Chronicle is rather laudatory, but does not scruple to call atten- 
tion to the misdeeds of the Conqueror. 

A. 1087. ... If any would know what manner of man king 
William was, the glory that he obtained, and of how many 
lands he was lord; then will we describe him as we have 
known him, we, who have looked upon him, and who once 
lived in his court. This king William, of w^hom we are 
speaking, was a very wise and a great man, and more hon- 
oured and more powerful than any of his predecessors. He 
was mild to those good men who loved God, but severe be- 
yond measure towards those who withstood his will. He 
founded a noble monastery on the spot where God permitted 
him to conquer England, and he established monks in it, and 
he made it very rich. In his days the great monastery at 
Canterbury was built, and many others also throughout Eng- 
land; moreover this land was filled with monks who lived 
after the rule of St. Benedict; and such was the state of 
religion in his days that all that would, might observe that 
which was prescribed by their respective orders. King 
William was also held in much reverence : he wore his crown 
three times every year when he was in England : at Easter he 
wore it at Winchester, at Pentecost at Westminster, and at 
Christmas at Gloucester. And -at these times, all the men 
of England were with him, archbishops, bishops, abbats, and 
earls, thanes, and knights. So also, was he a very stern and 
a wrathful man, so that none durst do anything against his 
will, and he kept in prison those earls who acted against his 
pleasure. He removed bishops from their sees, and abbats 
from their offices, and he imprisoned thanes, and at length 
he spared not his own brother Odo. This Odo was a very 
powerful bishop in Normandy, his see was that of Bayeux, 
and he was foremost to serve the king. He had an earldom 
in England, and when William was in Normandy he was the 
first man in this country, and him did he cast into prison. 
Amongst other things the good order that William estab- 



THE NORMAN RULE 119 

lished is not to be forgotten ; it was such that any man, who 
was himself aught, might travel over the kingdom with a 
bosom-full of gold unmolested; and no man durst kill an- 
other, however great the injury he might have received from 
him. He reigned over England, and being sharp-sighted to 
his own interest, he surveyed the kingdom so thoroughly that 
there was not a single hide of land throughout the whole, of 
which he knew not the possessor, and how much it was worth, 
and this he afterwards entered in his register. The land of 
the Britons was under his sway, and he built castles therein; 
moreover he had full dominion over the Isle of Man [Angle- 
sey] : Scotland also was subject to him from his great 
strength ; the land of Normandy was his by inheritance, and 
he possessed the earldom of Maine ; and had he lived two 
years longer he would have subdued Ireland by his prowess, 
and that without a battle. Truly there was much trouble in 
these times, and very great distress ; he caused castles to be 
built, and oppressed the poor. The king was also of great 
sternness, and he took from his subjects many marks of gold, 
and many hundred pounds of silver, and this, either with or 
without right, and with little need. He was given to avarice, 
and greedily loved gain. He made large forests for the deer, 
and enacted laws therewith, so that whoever killed a hart or 
a hind should be blinded. As he forbade killing the deer, so 
also the boars; and he loved the tall stags as if he were their 
father. He also appointed concerning the hares, that they 
should go free. The rich complained and the poor mur- 
mured, but he was so sturdy that he recked nought of them; 
they must will all that the king willed, if they would live; or 
would keep their lands; or would hold their possessions; or 
would be maintained in their rights. Alas ! that any man 
should so exalt himself, and carry himself in his pride over 
all ! May Almighty God show mercy to his soul, and grant 
him the forgiveness of his sins ! We have wTitten concern- 
ing him these things, both good and bad, that virtuous men 
might follow after the good, and wholly avoid the evil, and 
might go in the way that leadeth to the kingdom of heaven. 

(^A7iglo-Saxo7i Chronicle for year 1087, ed. cited.) 

48. Doomsday Survey 

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle 

The years 1085 and 1086 were of great constitutional and politi- 
cal importance to England. In the first, the Doomsday survey 
was made. In the second, the Gemot of Salisbury was held. 



120 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

The survey was the greatest fiscal work England had ever 
known, nor did she for several centuries know another of equal 
importance. The survey furnished the basis of taxation and 
military service, as well as that for the establishment and main- 
tenance of the English feudal system. The utility of the return 
was established at the national gathering, or Gemot, on Salisbury 
Plain. There William exacted from every landholder oaths of 
homage, fealty, and allegiance, binding each man directly to the 
king instead of to the mesne lord — the great difference between 
English and Continental feudalism. 

A. 1085. ... At midwinter the king was at Gloucester 
with his witan; and he held his court there five days; 
arid afterwards the archbishop and clergy held a synod 
during three days; and Maurice was there chosen to the 
bishopric of London, William to that of Norfolk, and Robert 
to that of Cheshire; they were all clerks of the king. After 
this the king had a great consultation, and spoke very 
deeply with his watan concerning this land, how it was 
held and what were its tenantry. He then sent his men 
over all England, into every shire, and caused them to as- 
certain how many hundred hides of land it contained, and 
what lands the king possessed therein, what cattle there were 
in the several counties, and how much revenue he ought to 
receive yearly from each. He also caused them to write 
down how much land belonged to his archbishops, to his 
bishops, his abbats, and his earls, and, that I may be brief, 
what property every inhabitant of all England possessed in 
land or in cattle, and how much money this was worth. So 
ivery narrowly did he cause the survey to be made, that there 
was not a single hide nor a rood of land, nor — it is shame- 
ful to relate that which he thought no shame to do — was 
there an ox, or a cow, or a pig passed by, and that was not 
set down in the accounts, and then all these writings were 
brought to him. 

A. 1086. This year the king wore his crown and held his 
court at Winchester at Easter, and he so journeyed forward 
that he was at Westminster during Pentecost, and there he 
dubbed his son Henry a knight. And afterwards he trav- 
elled about, so that he came to Salisbury at Lammas ; and 
his witan, and all the land-holders of substance in England, 
whose vassals soever they were, repaired to him there, and 
they all submitted to him, and became his men, and swore 
oaths of allegiance, that they would be faithful to him against 
all others. 

{Anglo-Saxo7i Chronicle for years ioSs-ioS6, ed. cited.) 



THE NORMAN RULE 121 

49. A Doomsday Manor: Hecham, Essex, A.D. 1086 

Doovisday Book 

Many extracts from Doomsday Book would no better serve our 
purpose than does this single one. Herein we can see the method 
of the examiners in ascertaining the extent of a manor. The 
purpose was to give the state of the manor as well as an enumera- 
tion and valuation of the property as it existed in the days of 
both Edward and William. 

Peter de Valence holds in domain Hecham, which Haldane 
a freeman held in the time of King Edward, as a manor, and 
as 5 hides. There have always been 2 ploughs in the de- 
mesne, 4 ploughs of the men. At that time there were 8 
villeins, now 10; then there were 2 bordars, now 3; at both 
times 4 servi, woods for 300 swine, 18 acres of meadow. 
Then there were 2 fish ponds and a half, now there are none. 
At that time there was i ox, now there are 15 cattle and 
I small horse and 18 swine and 2 hives of bees. At that 
time it was worth 60s., now £4 los. When he received this 
manor he found only i ox and i planted acre. Of those 5 
hides spoken of above, one was held in the time of King 
Edward by 2 freemen, and was added to this manor in the 
time of King William. It was worth in the time of King 
Edward los., now 22s., and William holds this from Peter 
de Valence. 

{Doomsday Book, II, 78b.) 

50. William I to Gregory VII 

William I 

. The following letter from the Conqueror to the Pope presents 
better than any other single document the relation of the English 
Church to the Papal See in the eleventh century. The King does 
not deny the rightfulness of the ecclesiastical tax, for he believed 
this to be due from all Christians. He, however, positively 
repudiates the theory that England was a fief of Rome, and 
sharply checks the interference of Rome in the civil affairs of his 
kingdom. In this connection, see also No. 51. 

To Gregory, the most noble Shepherd of the Holy Church, 
William, by the grace of God renowned king of the English, 
and duke of the Normans, greeting w-ith amity. Hubert, 
your legate, Holy Father, coming to me in your behalf, bade 
me to do fealty to you and your successors, and to think 
better in the manner of the money which my predecessors 
were wont to send to the Roman Church : the one point I 
agreed to, the other I did not agree to. I refused to do 
fealty, nor will I, because neither have I promised it, nor do 
I find that my predecessors did it to your predecessors. 



122 SOURCE-BOOK OP ENGLISH HISTORY 

The money for nearly three years, whilst I was in Gaul, 
has been carelessly collected; but now that I am come back 
to my kingdom, by God's mercy, what has been collected is 
sent by the aforesaid legate, and what remains shall be 
dispatched when opportunity serves, by the legate of Lan- 
franc, our faithful archbishop. Pray for us, and for the 
good estate of our realm, for we have loved your predeces- 
sors and desire to love you sincerely, and to hear you 
obediently before all. 

{Orighial Letters Illustrative of English History, 
ed. H. Ellis, London, 1846.) 

51. Royal Supremacy 

Eadmer 

William I. was firm in his determination to prevent the en- 
croachment of ecclesiastical authority upon the civil administra- 
tion. The following selection not only illustrates this principle, 
but shows the independence of the English State as to papal con- 
trol. This independence was not seriously questioned by the 
popes as long as a strong king ruled in the island realm. 

Eadmer says : "Some of those novel points I will set down 
which he [William] appointed to be observed . . . 

1. He would not then allow any one settled in all his 
dominion to acknowledge as apostolic the pontiff of the City 
of Rome, save at his own bidding, or by any means to receive 
any letter from him if it had not first been shown to him- 
self. 

2. The primate also of his realm, I mean the Archbishop 
of Canterbury or Dorobernia, presiding over a general Coun- 
cil assembled of bishops, he did not permit to ordain or 
forbid anything save what had first been ordained by himself 
as agreeable to his own will. 

3. He would not suffer that any, even of his bishops, 
should be allowed to implead publicly, or excommunicate, 
or constrain by any penalty of ecclesiastical rigour, any of 
his barons or ministers accused of incest, or adultery, or any 
capital crime, save by his command. 

{Ead7neri Monachi Cantuariensis Histories Novorujn ... I, 6, Lond. 1623.) 

52. Separation of Spiritual and Lay Jurisdiction 

Anciefit Laws and Institutes of England 

The greatest legal change resulting from the Conquest was the 
separation of the civil and ecclesiastical courts of law. An end 
was put to the practice of churchmen sitting as judges in the 
civil courts, as well as to the administration by the laity of eccle- 
siastical affairs. The result of the law was to strengthen the 
power of the ecclesiastical courts. 



I 
I 



THE NORMAN RULE 123 

William, by the grace of God king of the English, to R. 
Bainard, and G. de Magneville, and Peter de Valoines, and 
all my liege men of Essex, Hertfordshire and Middlesex 
greeting. Know ye and all my liege men resident in Eng- 
land, that I have by common council, and by the advise of 
the archbishops, bishops, abbots and chief men of my realm, 
determined that the episcopal laws be mended as not having 
been kept properly nor according to the decrees of the sacred 
canons throughout the realm of England, even to my own 
times. Accordingly I command and charge you by royal 
authority that no bishop nor archdeacon do hereafter hold 
pleas of episcopal laws in the Hundred, nor bring a cause 
to the judgment of secular men which concerns the rule of 
souls. But whoever shall be impleaded by the episcopal 
laws for any cause or crime, let him come to the place 
which the bishop shall choose and name for this purpose, 
and there answer for his cause or crime, and not according 
to the Hundred but according to the canons and episcopal 
laws, and let him do right to God and his bishop. But if any 
one, being lifted up with pride, refuse to come to the bishop's 
court, let him be summoned three several times, and if by, this 
means, even, he come not to obedience, let the authority and 
justice of the king or sheriff be exerted; and he who refuses 
to come to the bishop's judgment shall make good the bishop's 
law for every summons. This too I absolutely forbid that any 
sheriff, reeve, or king's minister, or any other layman, do in 
any wise concern himself with the laws which belong to the 
bishop, or bring another man to judgment save in the 
bishop's court. And let judgment be nowhere undergone 
but in the bishop's see or in that place which the bishop 
appoints for this purpose. 

{Ancient Laws and Institutes of England, I, 213.) 

53. First Charter of the City of London 

Historical Charters 

This, the first charter granted to the City of London, although 
of great brevity, is of importance because of its recognition of 
the rights possessed by the citizens of that place. 

William the king friendly salutes William the bishop, and 
Godfrey the portreve, and all the burgesses within London, 
both French and English : And I declare, that I grant you 
to be all law-worthy, as you were in the days of King 
Edward; and I grant that every child shall be his father's 



124 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

heir, after his father's days; and I will not suffer any per- 
son to do you wrong. God keep you. 

(^Historical Charters and Constitutional Documents of the City of London, 
p. I. Lond. 1884.) 

54. Exactions of William Rufas 

Ordericus V'italis 

The striking contrast between the administration of William 
the Conqueror and that of his son, William Rufas, is clearly 
shown in the following quotation from the contemporary chron- 
icler Ordericus Vitalis. 

While these events were occurring in Normandy, beyond 
sea, and enormous sums were prodigally spent in useless 
armaments, Ranulph Flambard, now made bishop of Durham, 
and the other minions and officers of the king, were robbing 
England, and, worse than thieves, pillaged without mercy 
the granaries of the farmers and the stores of the merchants, 
not even restraining their bloody hands from plundering 
the church. On the death of the prelates, they immediately 
intruded themselves into their places by a violent exercise 
of the royal authority, and seized without decency whatever 
they found in their treasuries. They took into the king's 
hands the domains of the monasteries and the revenues of 
the bishoprics, and exacted from the abbots or bishops who 
still survived enormous sums of money. Thus amassing, 
by fair means or foul, an immense amount of contributions, 
they remitted it to the king beyond sea, to be employed on his 
own occasions whether good or bad. Vast sums, accumulated 
by these taxes, were presented to the king who used them 
ostentatiously to enrich foreigners. But the native in- 
habitants, unjustly spoiled of their goods, were iw great 
distress and cried lamentably to God, who delivered Israel 
from the hand of Moab, when Eglon the corpulent king was 
slain by Aoth, the left-handed. 

{Ordericus Vitalis, book X, c. 8, ed. cited.) 

55. The Charter of Liberties of Henry I. 

Ancient Laws and Institutes of England 

William Rufas was succeeded by Henry, the third son of 
William the Conqueror. Henry's first public act was to issue a 
charter of liberties. This important charter was not only of 
great value to Henry's subjects, but a century later it was to form 
the basis of the demands which led King John to grant the 
Magna Charta (No. 80). The two documents should be studied 
together. 



THE NORMAN RULE 125 

In the year of the incarnation of the Lord, iioi, Henry, 
son of King Wihiam, after the death of his brother William, 
by the grace of God, king of the English, to all faithful, 
greeting : 

1. Know that by the mercy of God, and by the common 
counsel of the barons of the whole kingdom of England, I 
have been crowned king of the same kingdom; and because 
the kingdom has been oppressed by unjust exactions, T, 
from regard to God, and from the love which I have toward 
you, in the first place make the holy church of God free, so 
that I will neither sell nor place at rent, nor, when arch- 
bishop, or bishop, or abbot is dead, will I take anything from 
the domain of the church, or from its men, until a successor 
is installed into it. And all the evil customs by which the 
realm of England was unjustly oppressed will I take away, 
which evil customs I partly set down here. 

2. If any one of my barons, or earls, or others who hold 
from me shall have died, his heir shall not redeem his land as 
he did in the time of my brother, but shall relieve it by a just 
and legitimate relief. Similarly also the men of my barons 
shall relieve their lands from their lords by a just and 
legitimate relief. 

3. And if any one of the barons or other men of mine 
\vishes to give his daughter in marriage, or his sister or niece 
or relation, he must speak with me about it, but I will neither 
take anything from him for this permission, nor forbid him 
to give her in marriage, unless he should wish to join her 
to my enemy. And if when a baron or other man of mine 
is dead, a daughter remains as his heir. I will give her in 
marriage according to the judgment of my barons, along 
with her land. And if when a man is dead his wife remains, 
and is without children, she shall have her dowry and right 
of marriage, and I will not give her to a husband except 
to her will. 

4. And if a wife has survived with children, she shall have 
her dowry and right of marriage, so long as she shall have 
kept her body legitimately, and I will not give her in 
marriage, except according to her will. And the guardian 
of the land and children shall be either the wife or another 
one of the relatives as shall seem to be most just. And I 
require that my barons should deal similarly with the sons 
and daughters or wives of their men. 

5. The common tax on money which used to be taken 
through the cities and counties, which was not taken in the 



126 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

time of King Edward, I now forbid altogether henceforth to 
be taken. If any one shall have been seized, whether a 
moneyer or any other, with false money, strict justice shall 
be done for it. 

6. All fines and all debts which were owed to my brother, 
I remit, except my rightful rents, and except those payments 
which had been agreed upon for the inheritances of others 
or for those things which more justly affected others. And 
if any one for his own inheritance has stipulated anything, 
this I remit, and all reliefs which had been agreed upon for 
rightful inheritances. 

7. And if any one of my barons or men shall become 
feeble, however he himself shall give or arrange to give his 
money, I grant that it shall be so given. Moreover, if he 
himself, prevented by arms, or by weakness, shall not have 
bestowed his money, or arranged to bestow it, his wife or 
his children or his parents, and his legitimate men shall di- 
vide it for his soul, as to them shall seem best. 

8. If any of my barons or men shall have C9mmited an 
offence he shall not give security to the extent of forfeiture 
of his money, as he did in the time of my father, or of my 
brother, but according to the measure of the offence so shall 
he pay, as he would have paid from the time of my father 
backward, in the time of my other predecessors ; so that if 
he shall have been convicted of treachery or of crime, he 
shall pay as is just. 

9. All murders moreover before that day in which I was 
crowned king, I pardon ; and those which shall be done 
henceforth shall be punished justly according to the law of 
King Edward. 

10. The forests, by the common agreement of my barons, 
I have retained in my own hand, as my father held them. 

11. To those knights who hold their land by the cuirass, 
I yield of my own gift the lands of their demesne ploughs 
free from all payments and from all labor, so that as they 
have thus been favoured by such a great alleviation, so they 
may readily provide themselves with horses and arms for my 
service and for the defence of my kingdom, 

12. A firm peace in my whole kingdom I establish and re- 
quire to be kept from henceforth, 

13. The law of King Edward I give to you again with 
those changes with which my father changed it by the 
counsel of his barons. 

14. If any one has taken anything from my possessions 



THE NORMAN RULE 127 

since the death of King William, my brother, or from the 
possessions of any one, let the whole be immediately returned 
without alteration, and if any one shall have retained any- 
thing thence, he upon whom it is found w^ill pay it heavily 
to me. Witnesses Maurice, bishop of London, and Gundulf, 
bishop, and William, bishop-elect, and Henry, earl, and 
Simon, earl, and Walter Giffard, and Robert de Montfort, 
and Roger Bigod, and Henry de Port, at London, when I 
was crowned. 

{Translations and Reprints. Published by the Department of History, 
University of Pennsylvania. Reprinted by permission.) 

56. Charter of the City of London 

(From Henry I.) 

Historical Charters 

The City of London was the recipient of many charters, the 
first being that granted by WiUiam L (No. 53). That granted 
by Henry I. is, however, the first in which is given an account of 
the municipal government. A comparative study of these char- 
ters is of great value to those interested in municipal develop- 
ment. 

Henry, by the grace of God, king of England, to the arch- 
bishop of Canterbury, and to the bishops and abbots, earls 
and barons, justices and sheriffs, and to all his faithful sub- 
jects of England, French and English, greeting. 

Know^ ye that I have granted to my citizens of London, to 
hold Middlesex to farm for three hundred pounds, upon 
accompt to them and their heirs ; so that the said citizens 
shall place as sheriff whom they will of themselves; and 
shall place whomsoever, or such a one as they will of them- 
selves, for keeping of the pleas of the crown, and of the 
pleadings of the same, and none other shall be justice over 
the same men of London ; and the citizens of London shall 
not plead without the walls of London for any plea. And 
be they free from scot and lot and danegeld, and of all 
murder; and none of them shall wage battle. And if any 
one of the citizens shall be impleaded concerning the pleas 
of the crown, the man of London shall discharge himself 
by his oath, which shall be adjudged within the city; and 
none shall lodge within the walls, neither of my household, 
nor any other, nor lodging delivered by force. 

And all the men of London shall be quit and free, and 
all their goods, throughout England, and the ports of the 
sea, of and from all toll and passage and lestage, and all 
other customs; and the churches and barons and citizens 



128 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

shall and may peaceably and quietly have and hold their 
sokes with all their customs; so that the strangers that shall 
be lodged in the sokes shall give custom to none but to him 
to whom the soke appertains, or to his officer, whom he shall 
there put: And a man of London shall not be adjudged in 
amerciaments of money but of one hundred shillings (I 
speak of the pleas which appertain to money) ; and further, 
there shall be no more miskenning in the hustings, nor in the 
folkmote, nor in other pleas within the city ; and the hustings 
may sit once in a week, that is to say, on Monday: And I 
will cause my citizens to have their lands, promises, bonds, 
and debts, within the city and without; and I will do them 
right by the law of the city, of the lands of which they shall 
complain to me : 

And if any shall take toll or custom of any citizen of 
London, the citizens of London in the city shall take of the 
borough or town, where toll or custom was so taken, as much 
as the man of London gave for toll, and as he received 
damage thereby: And all debtors, which do owe debts to the 
citizens of London, shall pay them in London, or else dis- 
charge themselves in London, that they owe none; but if 
they will not pay the same, neither come to clear themselves 
that they owe none, the citizens of London, to whom the 
debts shall be due, may take their goods in the city of 
London, of the borough or town, or of the county wherein 
he remains who shall owe the debt: And all citizens of 
London may have their chaces to hunt, as well and fully as 
their ancestors have had, that is to say, in Chiltre, and in 
Middlesex and Surrey. 

Witness the bishop of Winchester, and Robert son of 
Richier, and Hugh Bygot, and Alured of Toteneys, and 
William of Alba-spina and Hubert the king's Chamberlain, 
and William de Montfichet, and Hangulf de Taney, and John 
Bellet, and Robert son of Siward. At Westminster. 

(TAe Historical Charters and Constitutional Documents of the City of Londoji, 

p. 3. Lond. 1834.) 

57. The Investiture Controversy 

Eadmer 

The policy of the Church forbade its ecclesiastics to receive in- 
vestiture from a layman, even though he were a king. It also 
forbade churchmen to render homage to laymen. Anselm, Arch- 
bishop of Canterbury, contested these points with Henry I. ; 
the result was the compromise set forth in the selection which 
fellows. 



THE NORMAN RULE 129 

On the first of August an assemble of bishops, abbots, 
and nobles of the realm was held at London in the kinsf's 
palace. And for three successive days, in Anselm's absence, 
the matter was thoroughly discussed between king and 
bishops concerning church investitures, some arguing for 
this that the king should perform them after the manner of 
his father and brother, or according to the injunction and 
obedience of the pope. For the pope in the sentence which 
h^d been then published, standing firm, had conceded hom- 
age, which Pope Urban had forbidden, as well as investiture, 
and in this way had won over the king about investiture, as 
may be gathered from the letter which we have quoted 
above. Afterwards, in the presence of Anselm and a large 
concourse, the king agreed and ordained that henceforward 
no one should be invested with bishopric or abbacy in Eng- 
land by the giving of a pastoral staff or the ring, by the 
king or any lay hand : Anselm also agreeing that no one 
elected to a prelacy should be deprived of consecration to the 
office undertaken on the ground of homage, which he should 
make to the king. After this decision, by the advise of 
Anselm and the nobles of the realm, fathers were instituted 
by the king, without any investiture of pastoral staff or 
ring, to nearly all the churches of England which had been 
so long widowed of their shepherds. 

(^Eadmcri JSIonachi Cantiiarioisis Historiee Novorutn, ed, cited.) 



CHAPTER VIII 

THE EARLY ANGEVINS 



58. Henry II and Thomas a Becket at the Council of Woodstock 

(July 1163) 

Edward Grim 

The reign of the strong king, Henry IL, was marred by his 
quarrel with Thomas a Becket. The assassination of the arch- 
bishop has tended to obscure in the mind of the younger student 
of history the principles which were at stake in the quarrel. As 
chancellor, Thomas was the king's servant, but when created 
archbishop he became the servant of the Church, and as such he 
resisted the encroachments of the Crown upon what he believed 
to be the ecclesiastical prerogative. The first issue with the king 
came in 1163 at the Council of Woodstock, upon a matter of 
taxation; the second at the Council of Westminster in the same 
year, upon the question of the rights of civil courts to try eccle- 
siastical persons. The dissension was partly healed, and at the 
Council of Clarendon the compromise effected between Church 
and State was embodied in the Constitutions of Clarendon But 
the dispute again broke out, and Becket fled from England. For 
years the struggle between ruler and prelate continued. In 1170 
a reconciliation was effected, but only to be succeeded by more 
bitter strife. Some rash words of the king led to the murder of 
the archbishop. The sincerity of Henry's remorse may well be 
doubted. In consequence of the murder Henry was forced to 
submit himself to the pope. 

When the king was tarrying on his manor at Woodstock, 
with the archbishop and the great men of the land, among 
other matters a question was raised concerning a certain 
custom which obtained in England. Two shillings frofn each 
hide were given to the king's servants, who, in the post of 
sheriffs, guarded the shires. This sum the king wished to 
have enrolled in the treasury and added to his own revenue. 
Whom the archbishop resisted to the face, saying that it 
ought not to be exacted as revenue — "Nor will we," said he, 
"my lord king, give it as revenue, saving your pleasure ; but 
if the sheriffs, and servants, an(i ministers of the shires shall 

i-^o 



THE EARLY ANGEVINS 131 

serve us fitly, and maintain and defend our dependants, in no 
way will we be behindhand in contributing to their aid." But 
the king, taking ill this answer of the archbishop, said "By 
the eyes of God, it shall be given as revenue, and in the king's 
scroll shall it be writ ; nor is it fit that thou shouldst gainsay, 
when no man would oppose your men against your will." 
The archbishop foreseeing and being aware lest by his suf- 
ferance a custom should be brought in whereby posterity 
should be harmed, answered, "By the reverence of the eyes 
by which you have sworn, my lord king, there shall be given 
from all my land or from the right of the Church not a 
penny." The king was silent, repulsed by the bold objection 
of the archbishop, but his indignation was not set at rest; for 
silently erewhile his fury from secular matters which seemed 
to be but little contrary to the archbishop, turned against the 
clergy, and his rage extended against the ministers of the 
church whose injuries specially redounded against the arch- 
bishop. 

(Edward Grim, Materials /or the History of Archbishop Becket. From St. Thomas 
of Canterbury, ed. W. H. Hutton, London, 1889. p. 36.) 

59. The Council of Westminster 

(Oct. 1 163) 

Herbert of Boshatn 

The king when he explained the cause of the summons 
straightway demanded that clerks seized or convicted of great 
crimes should be deprived of the guardianship of the church 
and handed over to his officers, declaring that they would 
be the more prompt to evil unless after spiritual punishment 
they were subject to corporal penalty, and that those that 
were not restrained by the memory of their orders from such 
enormities would care little for the loss of orders : and that 
the more worthy they were than other persons of the privi- 
lege of clergy so much the worse was their guilt ; and hence 
they should be constrained by greater punishments whenever 
they were discovered in crime. Accordingly the king, ad- 
vised by certain who made a boast of their learning in either 
law, straitly demanded that such persons should be deprived 
of their orders and handed over to the civil courts, the which 
not only human law but also the canonical authority of the 
Divine law sanctioned. Whence also concerning such it is 
found in the canons, "let him be given over to the court." 
Whence those who were prepared with learning on the king's 
behalf alleged, in nowise should be sent to exile or a monas- 



132 SOURCE-BOOK OP ENGLISH HISTORY 

tery, but rather, according to the canons, to the court, and 
this "to be handed over to the court" [they explained to 
mean] to be given over to the secular power to be punished. 

To the king and his party bringing forward these things, 
the archbishop, having had counsel with the bishops of his 
province and with prelates of learning, when he had an- 
swered at length and clearly on behalf of ecclesiastical liberty 
according to the canonical rule of the ancient fathers, at the 
end of his speech with all devotion besought the royal clem- 
ency to the rules of the holy fathers, under a new king Christ, 
and under a new law of Christ, by a new and strange kind 
of Lord. And this he besought humbly and oft for himself 
and for the security of the realm, again and again declaring 
that he neither ought to nor could endure it. 

The king nothing moved by this, but rather the more ex- 
cited as he saw the archbishop and the bishops opposing him 
and, as he reckoned, so unanimous and constant, demanded 
whether they would observe his royal custom. 

Whereon the archbishop, after counsel had with his breth- 
ren, said that he and his brethren would observe them saving 
their order. And the bishops each made the same answer 
when questioned singly by the king. But one, Hilary of 
Chichester, considering rather the king's anger than the 
opinion of the others, witho)it consulting the archbishop and 
the bishops changed the expression, saying that he would ob- 
serve the royal customs in good faith; and indeed for a good 
purpose, as I think, that he might soothe the mind of the 
king. But the king, in no way appeased, spurned his good- 
will with contumely; and turning to the archbishop and bish- 
ops, having heard the same speech from all, he said that they 
had formed a host against him and poison lay in that saying, 
"salvo or dine/' and that it was full of guile. Wherefore he 
demanded that absolutely and without qualification they 
should promise to obey the customs. The archbishop to this 
answered that they had sworn fealty to him in life and limb 
and earthly honour, salvo or dine suo; and that under earthly 
honour were comprehended the royal customs and that they 
would not be bound in another form to observe them, but 
only in that to which they had sworn. When the day was 
now far advanced the king, angrily and without saluting the 
prelates, departed hastily from the hall, in ire and much in- 
dignation. 

(Herbert of Bosham, as condensed in the Quadrilogus. From St. Thomas 
of Canterbury , ed. cited, p. 44.) 



THE EARLY ANGEVINS 133 

60. The Constitutions of Clarendon 

^ 4 • -^ Translations and Reprints 

In the year of the incarnation of the Lord, 1164, of the 
papacy of Alexander, the fourth year, of the most illustrious 
king of the English, Henry II., the tenth year, in the presence 
of the same king, has been made this memorial of acknowl- 
edgement of a certain part of the customs and franchises and 
dignities of his predecessors, that is to say of King Henry, 
his grandfather, and of the other kings, which ought to be ob- 
served and held in the kingdom. And on account of the dis- 
cussions and disputes which have arisen between the clergy 
and the justices of our lord the king and the barons of the 
kingdom concerning the customs and dignities, this acknowl- 
edgement is made in the presence of the archbishops and 
bishops and clergy and earls and barons and principal men of 
the kingdom. And these customs, acknowledged by the arch- 
bishops and bishops and earls and barons, and by the most 
noble and ancient of the kingdom, Thomas, archbishop of 
Canterbury, and Roger, archbishop of York, and Gilbert, 
bishop of London, and Henry, bishop of Winchester, and 
Nigel, bishop of Ely, and William, bishop of Norwich, and 
Robert, bishop of Lincoln, and Hilary, bishop of Chichester, 
and Jocelyn, bishop of Salisbury, and Richard, bishop of 
Chester, and Bartholomew, bishop of Exeter, and Robert, 
bishop of Hereford, and David, bishop of Man, and Roger, 
bishop-elect of Worcester have conceded, and in the word of 
truth by their living voice have firmly promised to the lord 
king and to his heirs should be held and observed, in good 
faith and without any evil intention ; the following being 
present : Robert, earl of Leicester, Reginald, earl of Cornwall, 
Conan, count of Brittany, John, count of Eu, Roger, earl of 
Clare, earl Geoffrey de Mandeville, Hugh, earl of Chester, 
William, earl of Arundel, Earl Patrick, William, earl Fer- 
rers, Richard de Lacy, Reginald de St. Valery, Roger Bigod, 
Reginald de Warenne, Richer de Aquila, William de Braose, 
Richard de Camville, Nigel de Mowbray. Simon de Warfield, 
Humphrey de Bohun, Matthew de Hereford, Walter de Med- 
way, Manasses Bisett, steward, William Malet, William de 
Courcy, Robert de Dunstanville, Jocelyn de Balliol, William 
de Lanvale, William de Cheyney, Geoffrey de Vere, William 
de Hastings, Hugh de Morville, Alan de Neville, Simon 
Fitz-Peter, William Malduit, chamberlain, John Malduit, 
John Marshall, Peter de Mare, and many others of the prin- 
cipal men and nobles of the kingdom, as well clergy as laity. 



J34 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

Of these acknowledged customs and dignities of the realm, 
a certain part is contained in the present writing. Of this 
part the heads are as follows : 

§ I. If any controversy has arisen concerning the ad vow- 
son and presentation of churches between laymen, or between 
laymen and ecclesiastics, or between ecclesiastics, it is to be 
considered or settled in the court of the lord king. 

§ 2. Churches of the fee of the lord king cannot be given 
perpetually without his assent and grant. 

§ 3. Clergymen charged and accused of anything, when 
they have been summoned by a justice of the king shall come 
into his court, to respond there to that which it shall seem 
good to the court of the king for them to respond to, and in 
the ecclesiastical court to what it shall seem good should be 
responded to there; so that the justice of the king shall send 
into the court of holy church to see how the matter shall be 
treated there. And if a clergyman shall have been convicted 
or has confessed, the church ought not to protect him other- 
wise. 

§ 4. It is not lawful for archbishops, bishops, and persons 
of the realm to go out of the realm without the permission of 
the lord king. And if they go out, if it please the lord king, 
they shall give security that neither in going nor in making 
a stay nor in returning will they seek evil or loss to the king 
or the kingdom. 

§ 5. Excommunicated persons ought not to give per- 
manent security nor offer an oath, but only security and a 
pledge to stand to the judgment of the church, in order that 
they may be absolved. 

§ 6. Laymen ought not to be accused except by definite 
and legal accusers and witnesses, in the presence of the 
bishop, so that the archdeacon shall not lose his right, nor 
anything which he ought to have from it. And if there are 
such persons as are blamed, but no one wishes or no one 
dares to accuse them, let the sheriff when required by the 
bishop cause twelve legal men of the neighbourhood or of the 
township to take an oath in the presence of the bishop that 
they will show the truth about it according to their con- 
science. 

§ 7. No one who holds from the king in chief, nor any 
one of the officers of his demesnes shall be excommunicated, 
nor the lands of any one of them placed under an interdict, 
unless the lord king, if he is in the land, first agrees, or his 
justice, if he is out of the realm, in order that he may do right 



THE EARLY ANGEVINS 135 

concerning him; and so that what shall pertain to the king's 
court shall be settled there, and for that which has respect to 
the ecclesiastical court, that it may be sent to the same to be 
considered there. 

§ 8. Concerning appeals, if they should occur, they ought 
to proceed from the archdeacon to the bishop, from the bishop 
to the archbishop. And if the archbishop should fail to show 
justice, it must come to the lord king last, in order that by his 
command the controversy should be finally terminated in the 
court of the archbishop, so that it ought not to proceed 
further without the assent of the lord king. 

§ 9. If a contest has arisen between a clergyman and a 
layman or between a layman and a clergyman, concerning 
any tenement which the clergymen wishes to bring into char- 
itable tenure, but the layman into a lay fief, it shall be settled 
by the deliberation of a principal justice of the king, on the 
recognition of twelve legal men, whether the tenement per- 
tains to charity or to a lay fief, in the presence of that justice 
of the king. And if the recognition shall decide that it be- 
longs to charity, the suit will be in the ecclesiastical court, 
but if to a lay fief, unless both are answerable to the same 
bishop or baron, the suit will be in the king's court. But if 
both shall be answerable concerning that fief before the same 
bishop or baron, the suit will be in his court, provided that 
the one who was formerly in possession shall not lose his 
possession on account of the recognition which has been 
made until it has been decided upon through the suit. 

§ 10. If any one who is of a city or a castle or a borough 
or a demesne manor of the lord king has been summoned by 
the archdeacon or the bishop for any offence for which he 
ought to respond to them, and is unwilling to make answer 
to their summons, it is fully lawful to place him under an 
interdict, but he ought not to be excommunicated before the 
principal officer of the lord king for that place agrees, in 
order that he may adjudge him to come to the answer. And 
if the officer of the king is negligent in this, he himself will 
be at the mercy of the lord king, and afterward the bishop 
shall be able to coerce the accused man by ecclesiastical 
justice. 

§ II. Archbishops, bishops, and all persons of the realm, 
who hold from the king in chief, have their possessions from 
the lord king as a barony, and are responsible for them to the 
justices and officers of the king, and follow and perform all 
royal rules and customs; and just as the rest of the barons 



136 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

ought to be present at the judgment of the court of the lord 
king along with the barons, at least till the judgment reaches 
to loss of limbs or to death. 

§ 12. When an archbishopric or bishopric or abbacy or 
priorate of the demesne of the king has become vacant, it 
ought to be in his hands and he shall take thence all its rights 
and products just as demesnes. And when it has come to 
providing for the church, the lord king ought to summon the 
more powerful persons of the church, and the election ought 
to be made in the chapel of the lord king himself, with the 
assent of the lord king and with the agreement of the persons 
of the realm whom he has called to do this. And there the 
person elected shall do homage and fealty to the lord king as 
to his liege lord, concerning his life and his limbs and his 
earthly honour, saving his order, before he shall be con- 
secrated. 

§ 13. If any one of the great men of the kingdom has pre- 
vented archbishop, bishop or archdeacon from exercising 
justice upon himself or his, the lord king ought to bring him 
to justice. And if by chance anyone has deprived the lord 
king of his right, the archbishops and bishops and arch- 
deacons ought to bring him to justice in order that he may 
give satisfaction to the lord king. 

§ 14. The chattels of those who are in forfeiture to the 
king no church or church-yard must detain against the jus- 
tice of the king, because they are the king's whether they 
have been found within the churches or without. 

§ 15. Suits concerning debts which are owed through the 
medium of a bond or without the medium of a bond should 
be in the jurisdiction of the king. 

§ 16. Sons of rustics ought not to be ordained without the 
assent of the lord upon whose land they are known to have 
been born. 

The acknowledgment of the aforesaid royal customs and 
dignities has been made by the aforesaid archbishops, and 
bishops, and earls, and barons, and the more noble and ancient 
of the realm, at Clarendon, on the fourth day before the 
Purification of the Blessed Mary, perpetual Virgin, Lord 
Henry being there present with his father, the lord king. 
There are, however, many other and great customs and dig- 
nities of holy mother church and of the lord king, and of the 
barons of the realm, which are not contained in this writing. 
These are preserved to holy church and to the lord king and 
to his heirs ard to the barons of the realm, and shall be ob- 
served inviolably forever. {Translations and Re:^rints, ed. cited.) 



THE EARLY ANGEVtNS 137 

61. The King's Rash Words and Becket's Death 

William Fitz Stephen 

The Archbishops of York and the Bishops of London and 
Sahsbury, with the Archdeacon of Poictiers (the Archdeacon 
of Canterbury was delayed on the sea by bad weather), hav- 
ing crossed the water, came to the King's court. He had 
already heard of the suspension and excommunication of 
the bishops. They repeat to him the w^hole story. They lay 
all the blame upon the Archbishop; they declare him to be 
guilty of treason in what he has done. Falsehood doubles 
his offence. It had been told the King that the Archbishop 
was making the circuit of the kingdom at the head of a large 
body of men. The King asks the Archbishop of York and 
the Bishops of London and Salisbury to advise him what to 
do. "It is not our part," they say, "to tell you what must be 
done." At length one says, "My lord, while Thomas lives, 
you will not have peace or quiet or see another good day." 
On hearing this, such fury, bitterness, and passion took pos- 
session of the King, as his disordered look and gesture ex- 
pressed, that it was immediately understood what he wanted. 

When they saw his emotion, four knights, barons of the 
king's household, seeking to please him, named Reginald 
Fitz Urse, William de Traci, Hugh de Morville, Richard 
Brito having sworn the death of the Archbishop, departed 
sailing from different ports. By the guidance of the devil, 
the old enemy of all good, they met at the same hour on the 
morrow at the castle of the family of Broc, at Saltwood. 

Whilst we were lately assembled in council before our lord 
and king, and supposed we were going to discuss important 
matters connected with the Church, ... we are told by some 
who are just come over from England, that certain enemies 
of the archbishop, provoked to madness, it is said, by frequent 
causes of exasperation, have suddenly set upon him, and — 
I can hardly write for my tears — have attacked his person 
and put him to a cruel death. At the first words of the mes- 
senger the king burst into loud lamentations, and exchanged 
his royal robes for sackcloth and ashes, acting more like a 
friend than the sovereign of the deceased. At times he 
ceased his cries and became stupid ; after which he burst 
again into cries and lamentations louder than before. Three 
whole days he spent in his chamber, and would receive 
neither food nor consolation, but by the excess of his grief 
it seemed as if he had thoroughly made up his mind to die. 
The state of things indeed became alarming, and we had now 



138 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

a double cause for anxiety. First we had to lament the death 
of the bishop, now we almost despaired of the life of the king, 
and so in losing one we thought our evil fortune would de- 
prive us of both. 

(William Fitz Stephen. From St. Thomas of Canterbury, ed. cited, p. 232.) 



62. The Assize of Clarendon 

(1166) 



Select Charters 



The Assize of Clarendon is of great importance to the histori- 
cal student because of its re-arrangement of judicial processes. 
It is a valuable legal landmark. By it the custom of the country 
was crystallised in the provision for a jury of presentment, anal- 
ogous to the modern grand jury. The old form of compurgation 
was finally superseded, and that of collective responsibility re- 
affirmed. The whole document is worthy of intensive study. 

Here begins the Assize of Clarendon, made by King 
Henry H. with the assent of the archbishops, bishops, ab- 
bots, earls and barons of all England. 

§ I. In the first place, the aforesaid King Henry, with 
the consent of all his barons, for the preservation of the 
peace and the keeping of justice, has enacted that inquiry 
should be made through the several counties and through the 
several hundreds, by twelve of the most legal men of the 
hundred and by four of the most legal men of each manor, 
upon their oath that they will tell the truth, whether there is 
in their hundred or in their manor, any man who has been 
accused or publicly suspected of himself being a robber, or 
murderer, or thief, or of being a receiver of robbers, or mur- 
derers, or thieves, since the lord king has been king. And 
let the justices make this inquiry before themselves, and the 
sheriffs before themselves. 

§ 2. And let anyone who has been found by the oath of 
the aforesaid, to have been accused or publicly suspected of 
having been a robber, or murderer, or thief, or a receiver of 
them, since the lord king has been king, be arrested and go 
to the ordeal of water and let him swear that he has not been 
a robber, or murderer, or thief, or receiver of them since the 
lord king has been king, to the value of five shillings, so far 
as he knows. 

§ 3. And if the lord of the man who has been arrested or 
his steward or his men shall have claimed him, with a pledge, 
within the third day after he has been seized, let him be given 
up and his chattels until he himself makes his law. 

§ 4. And when a robber, or murderer, or thief, or receiver 



THE EARLY ANGEVINS 139 

of them shall have been seized through the above-mentioned 
oath, if the justices are not to come very soon into that 
county where they have been arrested, let the sheriffs send 
word to the nearest justice by some intelligent man that they 
have arrested such men, and the justices will send back word 
to the sheriffs where they wish that these should be brought 
before them; and the sheriffs shall bring them before the 
justices; and along with these they shall bring from the 
hundred and the manor where they have been arrested, two 
legal men to carry the record of the county and of the hun- 
dred as to why they were seized, and there before the justice 
let them make their law. 

§ 5. And in the case of those who have been arrested 
through the aforesaid oath of this assize, no one shall have 
court, or judgment, or chattels, except the lord king in his 
court before his justices, and the lord king shall have all 
their chattels. In the case of those, however, who have been 
arrested, otherwise than through this oath, let it be as it has 
been accustomed and ought to be. 

§ 6. And the sheriffs who have arrested them shall bring 
such before the justice without any other summons than they 
have from him. And when robbers, or murderers, or thieves, 
or receivers of them, who have been arrested through the 
oath or otherwise, are handed over to the sheriffs they also 
must receive them immediately without delay. 

§ 7. And in the several counties where there are no jails, 
let such be made in a borough or in some castle of the king, 
from the money of the king and from his forest, if one shall 
be near, or from some other neighbouring forest, on the view 
of the servants of the king; in order that in them the sheriffs 
may be able to detain those who have been seized by the offi- 
cials who are accustomed to do this or by their servants. 

§ 8. And the lord king moreover w ills that all should come 
to the county courts to make this oath, so that no one shall 
remain behind because of any franchise which he has or 
court or jurisdiction which he had, but that they should come 
to the making of this oath. 

§ 9. And there is to be no one within a castle or without 
a castle or even in the honour of Wallingford, who may for- 
bid the sheriffs to enter into his court or his land for seeing 
to the frankpledges and that all are under pledges; and let 
them be sent before the sheriffs under a free pledge. 

§ 10. And in cities and boroughs, let no one have men or 
receive them in his house or in his land or his soc, whom he 



MO SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

does not take in hand that he will produce before the justice 
if they shall be required, or else let them be under a frank- 
pledge. 

§ II. And let there be none in a city or borough or in a 
castle or without, or even in the honour of Wallingford, who 
shall forbid the sheriffs to enter into his land or his juris- 
diction to arrest those who have been charged or publicly 
suspected of being robbers or thieves or receivers of them, 
or outlaws, or persons charged concerning the forest ; but he 
requires that they should aid them to capture these. 

§ 12. And if any one is captured who has in his pos- 
session the fruits of robbery or theft, if he is of bad reputa- 
tion and has an evil testimony from the public, and has not 
a warrant, let him not have law. And if he shall not have 
been accused on account of the profession which he has, let 
him go to the water. 

§ 13. And if any one shall have acknowledged robbery or 
murder or theft or the reception of them in the presence of 
legal men or of the hundreds, and afterwards shall wish to 
deny it, he shall not have law. 

§ 14. The lord kin^ wills moreover that those who make 
their law and shall be absolved by the law, if they are of very 
bad testimony, and publicly and disgracefully spoken ill of 
by the testimony of many and legal men, shall abjure the 
lands of the king, so that within eight days they shall go over 
the sea, unless the wind shall have detained them; and with 
the first wind which they shall have afterward they shall go 
over the sea, and they shall not afterward return into Eng- 
land, except on the permission of the lord king; and then let 
them be outlawed if they return, and if they return they shall 
be seized as outlaws. 

§ 15. And the lord king forbids any vagabond, that is a 
wandering or an unknown man, to be sheltered anywhere ex- 
cept in a borough, and even there he shall be sheltered only 
one night, unless he shall be sick there, or his horse, so that 
he is able to show an evident excuse. 

§ 16. And if he shall have been there more than one night, 
let him be arrested and held until his lord shall come to give 
securities for him, or until he himself shall have secured 
pledges; and let him likewise be arrested who has sheltered 
him. 

§ 17. And if any sheriff shall have sent word to any other 
sheriff that men have fled from his county into another 
county, on account of robbery or murder or theft, or the re- 



THE EARLY ANGEVINS 141 

ception of them, or for outlawry or for a charge concerning 
the forest of the king, let him arrest them. And even if he 
knows of himself or through others that such men have fled 
into his county, let him arrest them and hold them until he 
shall have secured pledges from them. 

§ 18. And let all sheriffs cause a list to be made of all 
fugitives who have fled from their counties; and let them do 
this in the presence of their county courts, and they will carry 
the written names of these before the justices when they 
come first before these, so that they may be sought through 
all England, and their chattels may be seized for the use of 
the king. 

§ 19. And the lord kin.g wills that, from the time when 
the sheriffs have received the summons of the justices in eyre 
to appear before them with their county courts, they shall 
gather together their county courts and make inquiry for all 
who have recently come into their counties since this assize; 
and that they should send them away with pledges that they 
will be before the justices, or else keep them in custody until 
the justices come to them, and then they shall have them 
before the justices. 

§ 20. The lord king moreover prohibits monks and canons 
and all religious houses from receiving any one of the lesser 
people as a monk or canon or brother, until it is known of 
what reputation he is, unless he shall be sick unto death. 

§ 21. The lord king moreover forbids any one in all Eng- 
land to receive in his land or his jurisdiction or in a house 
under him any one of the sect of those renegades who have 
been excommunicated and branded at Oxford. And if any- 
one shall have received them, he will be at the mercy of the 
lord king, and the house in which they have been shall be 
carried outside the village and burned. And each sheriff 
will take this oath that he will hold this, and will make all 
his servants swear this, and the stewards of the barons, and 
all knights and free tenants of the counties. 

§ 22. And the lord king wills that this assize shall be held 
in his kingdom so long as it shall please him. 

{Translations and Reprints, ed. cited.) 

63. Constitution of the King's Household 

Little Black Book of the Exchequer 

This document is of sufficient importance to warrant its intro- 
duction into this book of sources. In the words of its most able 
editor, Hubert Hall. F.S.A., of the Public Record Office : "The 
value of this historical document is inestimable. It brings us into 



142 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

touch with the Angevin king [Henry II.] and possibly with his 
Norman predecessors, by affording a hundred clues to court 
life." Beside this, it affords a host of suggestions upon the 
manners of the times. 



THIS IS THE CONSTITUTION OF THE KING S HOUSE 

The Chancellor. 

Five shillings daily and one royal simnel, and two [of 
dripping,] and one sextary of clear w^ine, and one sextary 
of household w^ine, and one wax-candle and forty candle- 
ends. 

The Master of the Scriptorum. 

Formerly tenpence daily, and one simnel [of dripping,] 
and half a sextary of household wine, and one thick candle 
and twelve candle-ends. But King Henry increased Robert 
de Sigillo by so much, that on the day of the king's death 
he had two shillings, and one sextary of household wine, 
and one simnel [of dripping,] and one taper and twenty- 
four candle-ends. 

The Chaplain, Keeper of the Chapel and Relics. 

The entertainment of two men and four Serjeants of the 
Chapel, each a double ration ; and two sumpter-horses of 
the Chapel, each one penny daily and one penny to shoe 
them monthly. For the service of the Chapel, two wax- 
candles on Wednesday and two on Saturday; and every 
night one wax-candle at the Relics, and thirty candle-ends ; 
and one gallon of clear wine at mass and one sextary of 
household wine on the day of Absolution, to wash the 
altar. On Easter Day, at Communion, one sextary of clear 
wine and one of household wine. 

The Clerk of the household bread and wine. 

Two shillings daily, and one simnel [of dripping,] and 
one sextary of household wine, and one taper and twentj- 
four candle-ends. 

Of the Stewards of the bread. 

The regular Master Steward of the bread, if he shall eat 
without the king's house, two shillings and tenpence daily, 
and one simnel [of dripping,] and one sextary of house- 
hold wine, and candles fully. 

Of the Sewers. 

The Sewers the same as the Chancellor, if they shall eat 
without the house; if within, three shillings and sixpence, 
and two simnels [of dripping,] and one sextary of house- 
hold wine and candles fully. 






THE EARLY ANGEVINS X43 

Of the Stewards serving in turn. 

If without the house, nineteen pence daily, and one sim- 
nel [of ^dripping,] and one sextary of household wine, and 
one thick candle and twenty candle-ends. If within, ten- 
pence and half a sextary of household wine and candles 
fully. 

Of the Naperers. 

The Naperer, the customary ration. To his man, three 
half-pence daily, and one penny for a sumpter-horse, and 
one penny monthly to shoe him. 

The Usher of the Dispensary. 

The same, the sumpter-horse excepted. 
The Counter of the Bread. 

The customary ration. 

Of the four Bakers.- serving together in their turn. 

Two who serye in the house shall eat in the house ; and 
two who go abroad shall have forty pence to procure a 
measure of Rouen for which they should render forty royal 
simnels and a hundred and fifty [of dripping,] and two 
hundred and seventy baker's loaves. A royal simnel to 
four, one [of dripping] to two, and a loaf to each. 

Of the Waferers. 

The Waferer, the customary ration ; and three half-pence 
to his man daily. 

The Keeper of the Tables. 

So much as the above; and besides this a sumpter-horse 
with his allowance. 

The bearer of the Alms-dish shall eat in the house. 

Of the Stewards of the Larder. 

The Master Steward of the Larder, the same as the 
Master Steward of the bread and wine, and in the same 
manner. 

Likewise the .Stewards of the Larder serving in turn, 
like also as the Stewards of the bread and wine serve in 
turn. The Larderers who serve in turn, the customary 
ration, and their man three half-pence daily. The Usher 
of the Larder the same. The Slaughter-men the customary 
ration only. 

Of the Cooks. 

The Cook of the king's kitchen shall eat in the house. 
Three half-pence to his man. 



144 SOURCE-BOOK Of ENGLISH HISTORY 

Of the Great Kitchen. 

The king's Poulterer, the customary ration and three 
half-pence to his man. 

Two Cooks, each of them the customary ration. Three 
half-pence to their man. 

The Serjeants of the same kitchen, the customary ration 
only. 

The Usher of the Spithouse, the customary ration; to his 
man three half-pence. 

The Turn Spit likewise. 

Likewise the Keeper of the Dishes, and besides this on:- 
sumpter-horse with his allowance. 

The Carter of the great kitchen, a double ration, and for 
his horse a proper allowance. 

The Carter of the Larder likewise. 

The Serjeant who receives the venison shall eat within; 
and three half-pence to his man. 

The Master Butler, the same as the Sewer, and they 
have one allowance and in the same manner. 

The Master Stewards of the Butlery who serve in turn, 
the same as the Stewards of the Dispensary who serve in 
turn. But they have more candle, because they have a 
taper and twenty-four candle-ends. 

The Usher of the Butlery, the customary ration, and 
three half-pence to his man. 

The Hosiers shall eat in the house, and to each of their 
men threepence. 

The Butterer, the customary ration, and threepence to 
his men, and half a sextary of household wine and twelve 
candle-ends. 

The Workmen of the Buttery, the customary ration only, 
but the Serjeant besides this three half-pence to his man 
and two sumpter-horses with their allowances. 
Of the Keepers of the Cups. 

Four only must serve together in their turn, of whom 
two shall eat in the house, and each for his man three half- 
pence. Two other shall have the customary ration and 
likewise three half-pence to their men. 

The Keepers of the Mazers a double ration only. 
Of the Fruiterers. 

The Fruiterer shall eat in the house, and three of his 
men. 
The Carter the customary ration and allowance for his 
horses. 



THE EARLY ANGEVINS 145 

The Master Chamberlain is equal with the Sewer in his 
allowance. 

The Treasurer as the Master Chamberlain if he shall be in 
the Court and shall serve in the Treasury. William 
Maudut fourteen pence daily, and he shall eat regularly in 
the house, and one thick candle and thirteen candle-ends 
and two sumpter-horses with their allowances. 

The Porter of the King's Litter shall eat in the house, and to 
his man three half-pence and one sumpter-horse with his 
allowance. 

The Chamberlain who serves in his turn two shillings daily, 
and one sininel [of dripping,] and one sextary of house- 
hold wine, and one taper and fourteen candle-ends. 

The Chamberlain of the Candles eightpence daily, and half 
a sextary of household wine. 

The King's Tailor shall eat in his house, and to his man 
three half-pence. 

The Chamberlain shall eat in the house without allowance if 
he shall desire it. 

The Water-carrier a double ration, and when the king goes 
abroad one penny to wring out the king's clothes ; and 
when the king bathes, threepence, except on the three 
feasts of the year. 

Of the Washerwoman — doubtful. 

The Constables have allowances like as the Sewers, and in 
like manner William, son of Odo, one royal simnel and one 
sextary of clear wine and one taper and twenty-four 
candle-ends. 

Henry de la Pomerai, if he shall eat without the house, 
two shillings daily, and one simnel [of dripping.] and one 
sextary of household wine, and one taper, and twenty-four 
candle-ends; but if within, fourteen pence and half a sex- 
tary of household wine, and candle fully. 
Roger de Oyli likewise. 

Of the Marshalsea. 

The Master Marshal likewise, namely, John. And be- 
sides this he ought to have vouchers of the gifts and allow- 
ances that may arise from the King's Treasury and from 
his Chamber, and he ought to have vouchers against all the 
king's officials as witness for all things. 

The four Marshals who serve the family of the king as 
well clerks as knights and ministers, the day whereon they 



146 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

make a harbourage or abide without the Court on the 
king's business, eightpence daily, and one gallon of house- 
hold wine and twelve candle-ends. If without, threepence 
daily for their man and a full candle. And if anyone of 
the Marshals shall be sent on the king's business, eight- 
pence only. 

The Serjeants of the Marshals if they shall be sent on 
the king's business, to each of them, daily, threepence. But 
if not they shall eat in the king's house. 

The Ushers, servants of the Bishop, shall eat in the house; 
to each of their men three half-pence daily and eight 
candle-ends. 

Gilbert Bonhomme and Ralph shall eat in the house without 
any other allowance. 

The Watchmen, a double ration ; and to their men three half- 
pence daily and four candles, and besides this of a morning 
each of them two loaves and one dish of meat and one gal- 
lon of beer. 

The Keeper of the Hearth shall always eat in the house, and 
from the feast of Saint Michael to Easter every day four- 
pence for the fire. 

The Usher of the Chamber each day on which the king fares 
abroad fourpence for the king's bed. 

The Keeper of the Tents shall eat in the house, and when- 
ever he was to carry the tents, he used to have allowance 
for one man and one sumpter-horse. 

Each of the four Hornblowers threepence daily. 

Twenty Serjeants, each one penny daily. 

The Keepers of the Gazehounds, each threepence daily and 

twopence to their men. 

And for every Harrier a half-penny daily. 
The King's Mews eightpence daily. 
The Knight's Huntsmen eightpence daily each. 
The Cat Hunters each fivepence. 
The Leader of the Limmers a penny. 
A Limmer, a half-penny. 
The Bear-ward threepence daily. 
The Huntsmen of the Hart, each threepence daily, and of the 

great Hart four ought to have a penny, and of the small 

Hart seven a penny. 

For the great Hart two men, and each a penny daily; 

and for the small Hart two men, and each a penny daily. 



THE EARLY ANGEVIN6 147 

The Keepers of the Brachs, each threepence daily. 

The Wolf-catchers, twenty pence daily for them and their 
men and dogs, and they ought to have twenty-four cours- 
ing dogs, and eight Harriers, and six pounds by the year 
to buy horses, but they themselves say eight. 

Of the Archers who used to carry the king's bow, each five- 
pence daily ; and other archers the same. 

Bernard, Ralph le Bobeur, and their fellows each threepence 
daily. 

(In Court Life tinder the Plajitagenets, ed. H. Hall, London, 1890. p. 244.) 

64. The First Coronation of Richard I. 

Roger de Hovenden 

The ceremony described by Roger de Hoveden illustrates the 
form by which the kings of England were installed in office. 
The royal state used by the Norman kings was derived from 
their Saxon predecessors and continued by the Angevins. The 
student should observe the function of the Church, the oath of 
the king, the manner of anointing and crowning, and the oaths 
of fealty and homage which concluded the ceremony. 

First came the bishops, abbats, and large numbers of the 
clergy, w^earing silken hoods, preceded by the cross, taper- 
bearers, censers, and holy water, as far as the door of the 
king's inner chamber; where they received the before-named 
duke, and escorted him to the church of Westminster, as far 
as the high altar, in solemn procession, with chaunts of 
praise, while all the way along which they went, from the 
door of the king's chamber to the altar, was covered with 
woollen cloth. The order of the procession was as follows : 
First came the clergy in their robes, carrying holy water, and 
the cross, tapers, and censers. Next came the priors, then 
the abbats, and then the bishops, in the midst of whom walked 
four barons, bearing four candlesticks of gold ; after whom 
came Godfrey de Lucy, bearing the king's cap [of main- 
tenance], and John Marshal by him, carrying two great and 
massive spurs of gold. After these came William Marshal, 
earl of Striguil, bearing the royal sceptre of gold, on the top 
of which was a cross of gold, and by him William Fitz- 
Patrick, earl of Salisbury, bearing a rod of gold, having on 
its top a dove of gold. After them came David, earl of 
Huntingdon, brother of the king of Scotland, John, earl of 
Mortaigne, the duke's brother, and Robert, earl of Leicester, 
carrying three golden swords from the king's treasury, the 
scabbards of w^hich were worked all over with gold ; the earl 
of Mortaigne walking in the middle. Next came six earls 



148 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

and six barons, carrying on their shoulders a very large 
chequer, upon which were placed the royal arms and robes; 
and after them William de Mandeville, earl of Aumarle, 
carrying a great and massive crown of gold, decorated on 
every side with precious stones. Next came Richard, duke 
of Normandy, Hugh, bishop of Durham, walking at his right 
hand, and Reginald, bishop of Bath, at his left, and four 
barons holding over them a canopy of silk on four lofty 
spears. Then followed a great number of earls, barons, 
knights, and others, both clergy and laity, as far as the porch 
of the church, and dressed in their robes, entered with the 
duke, and proceeded as far as the choir. 

When the duke had come to the altar, in presence of the 
archbishops, bishops, clergy, and people, kneeling before the 
altar, with the holy Evangelists placed before him, and many 
relics of the saints, according to custom, he swore that he 
would all the days of his life observe peace, honour, and 
reverence towards God, the Holy Church, and its ordinances. 
He also swore that he would exercise true justice and equity 
towards the people committed to his charge. He also swore 
that he would abrogate bad laws and unjust customs, if any 
such had been introduced into his kingdom, and would enact 
good laws, and observe the same without fraud or evil intent. 
After this they took off all his clothes from the waist up- 
wards, except his shirt and breeches; his shirt having been 
previously separated over his shoulders; after which they 
shod him with sandals embroidered with gold. Then Bald- 
win, archbishop of Canterbury, pouring holy oil upon his 
head, breast, and arms, which signifies glory, valour, and 
knowledge, with suitable prayers for the occasion; after 
which the said archbishop placed a consecrated linen cloth 
on his head, and upon that the cap which Godfrey de Lucy 
had carried. They then clothed him in the royal robes, first 
a tunic, and then a dalmatic ; after which the said archbishop 
delivered to him the sword of rule, with which to crush evil- 
doers against the Church; this done, two earls placed the 
spurs upon his feet, which John Marshal had carried. After 
this, being robed in a mantle, he was led to the altar, where 
the said archbishop forbade him, in the name of Almighty 
God, to presume to take upon him this dignity, unless he had 
the full intention inviolably to observe the oaths and vows 
before-mentioned which he had made; to which he made 
answer that, with God's assistance, he w^ould without re- 
servation observe them all. After this, he himself took the 



THE EARLY ANGEVINS 149 

crown from the altar and gave it to the archbishop ; on which, 
the archbishop delivered it to him, and placed it upon his 
head, it being supported by two earls in consequence of its 
extreme weight. After this, the archbishop delivered to him 
the sceptre to hold in his right hand, while he held the rod 
of royalty in his left; and, having been thus crowned, the 
king was led back to his seat by the before-named bishops 
of Durham and Bath, preceded by the taper-bearers and the 
three swords before-mentioned. After this, the mass of our 
Lord was commenced, and, when they came to the offertory, 
the before-named bishops led him to the altar, where he 
offered one mark of the purest gold, such being the proper 
offering for the king at each coronation; after which, the 
bishops before-named led him back to his seat. The mass 
having been concluded, and all things solemnly performed, 
the two bishops before-named, one on the right hand, the 
other on the left, led him back from the church to his 
chamber, crowned, and carrying a sceptre in his right hand 
and the rod of royalty in his left, the procession going in the 
same order as before. Then the procession returned to the 
choir, and our lord the king put off his royal crown and 
robes of royalty, and put on a crown and robes that were 
lighter ; and, thus crowned, went to dine ; on which the arch- 
bishops and bishops took their seats with him at the table, 
each according to his rank and dignity. The earls and 
barons also served in the king's palace, according to their 
several dignities ; while the citizens of London served in 
the cellars, and the citizens of Winchester in the kitchen . . . 
On the second day after his coronation, Richard, king of 
England, received the oaths of homage and fealty from the 
bishops, abbats, earls, and barons of England. 

{Annals of Roger de Hoveden/or 1189, trans, by H. T. Riley. 
London, 1853. II, 117.) 

65. Levying a Feudal Aid 

(1198) 

Roger de Hoveden 

The manner in which the king's taxes were collected is well 
illustrated in the chosen selection. The minuteness of detail in 
the account makes it as interesting as valuable. This extract 
should be compared with that describing the levying of an aid in 
the seventeenth century (No. 151). 

... In the same year, Richard, king of England, levied 
from each carucate or hide of land throughout all England 
five shillings as an aid; for the purpose of collecting which, 



150 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

the said king sent through each county of England one clerk 
and one knight; who, with the sheriff of the county to which 
they were sent, and lawful knights elected for the purpose, 
making oath that they would faithfully perform the king's 
business, caused to appear before them the seneschals of the 
barons of the said county, and the lord or bailiff of every 
vill, and the reeve, together with the four lawful men of the 
vill, whether freemen or villeins, as also two law^ful knights 
of the hundred, who made oath that they would faithfully 
and without fraud declare what was the amount of carucates 
in each vill that were in tillage ; namely, how many were 
held in demesne, how many in villanage, how many in al- 
moign bestowed on religious orders, which the givers thereof 
were bound to make warranty of, or to pay for, or for which 
the said religious were bound to do service; and upon each 
carucate in tillage, by the king's commands, they first levied 
two shillings and then three shillings ; all of which was re- 
duced to writing. Of all this the clerk had one register, the 
knight another, the sheriff a third, and the seneschals of the 
barons a fourth register as to the land of their lords. 

This money was received by the hands of two lawful 
knights of each hundred, and by the hands of the bailiff of 
the hundred, and they were answerable for the same to the 
sheriff, and the sheriff answerable for the ' same accord- 
ing to the before-mentioned registers to the exchequer, in 
presence of the bishops, abbats, and barons appointed for 
the purpose. 

Also, for the punishment of the jurors who, contrary to 
their oath, should be guilty of concealing anything in the 
said matters, it was enacted that whatever villein should be 
convicted of perjury he should forfeit to his lord the best 
ox of his plough, and should, out of his own property, be 
answerable for as much money for the use of our lord the 
king as should be proved to have remained concealed by 
means of his perjury; but if a free man should be convicted, 
he was to be amerced by the king, and was to refund as well 
out of his own property as much as had been concealed by 
him, in the same manner as the villein. 

It was also enacted, that every baron should, with the aid 
of the sheriff, make levies upon his tenants; and if, by 
default of the baron, such levies should not be made, then 
there was to be taken from the demesne of the baron what 
should remain payable by his tenants, and the baron was 
to take the same from his tenants. Frank-fees of parish 



151 , THE EARLY ANGEVIMS 

churches were exempted from the said tallage; and all 
escheats of barons which were held in the hands of our lord 
the king contributed thereto. But serjeanties of our lord 
the king, which were not attached to knights' fees, were 
excepted, although they were placed on the register, as also 
the number of the carucates of land, the values of their lands, 
and the names of those holding by serjeanty; and all those 
so holding, were sununoned to be at London on the octave 
at the end of Easter, to hear and perform the king's com- 
mands. 

The persons who were chosen for that purpose, and ap- 
pointed by our lord the king, according to the estimation of 
lawful men, set down a hundred acres of land for each 
carucate of land in cultivation. 

{Aufials of Roger de Hoi'eden/or 1198, ed. cited. II, 420.) 



PART IV 

FROM THE CHARTER TO THE 
REFORMATION 

(1215-1485) 



153 



CHAPTER IX 

THE PAPAL AUTHORITY TRIUMPHANT 



66. The Struggle between John and Innocent III. 

Roger of Wendover 

Roger of Wendover (d. 1237) left a work known as The 
Flowers of History (formerly attributed to Matthew Paris). It 
is the chief contemporary source for the reign of King John. 
The stormy rule of that king was full of struggles between the 
Throne and the Church, and the Throne and the Baronage. The 
first chain of events grew out of the tripartite struggle between 
the cathedral chapter of Canterbury, the king, and the pope, to 
seat their respective candidates in the archbishopric of Canter- 
bury, in place of Hubert Walter, deceased. The pope was able 
to control the clergy, but the king refused to admit the right of 
Rome to appoint to the vacant see. 



THE KING OF ENGLAND ADMONISHED BY OUR LORD THE POPE 

In the same year pope Innocent, on learning that king 
John's heart was so hardened, that he would not either by 
persuasion or threats be induced to acquiesce in receiving 
Stephen as archbishop of Canterbury, was touched to the 
heart with grief, and, by advice of his cardinals, sent orders 
to William bishop of London, Eustace bishop of Ely, and 
Mauger bishop of Winchester, to go to the said king, about 
the matter of the church of Canterbury, and to give him 
wholesome counsel to yield to God in this matter, and so 
secure the Lord's favour; but if they found him contumacious 
and rebellious as he had hitherto been, he ordered them to 
lay an interdict on the whole kingdom of England, and to 
denounce to the said king that, if he did not check his bold- 
ness by that means, he, the pope, would lay his hand on him 
still more heavily ; since it was necessary for him to conquer, 
who for the safety of the holy church had made war on the 
devil and his angels, and despoiled the cloisters of hell. He 
also, by letters of the apostolic see, gave orders to the 

15s 



156 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

suffragan bishops of tlie church of Canterbury, and to the 
other prelates of that diocese, that, by virtue of their obedi- 
ence, they were to receive the aforesaid archbishop as their 
father and pastor, and were to obey him with all due affec- 
tion. 

67. England under the Interdict 

A. 1208. The bishops of London, Ely, and Winchester, 
in execution of the legateship entrusted to them, went to king 
John, and after duly setting forth the apostolic commands, 
entreated of him humbly and with tears, that he, having God 
in his sight, would recall the archbishop and the monks of 
Canterbury to their church, and honour and love them with 
perfect affection; and they informed him that thus he would 
avoid the shame of an interdict, and the Disposer of rewards 
would, if he did so, multiply his temporal honours on him, 
and after his death would bestow lasting glory on him. 
When the said bishops wished, out of regard to the king, to 
prolong the discourse, the king became nearly mad with rage, 
and broke forth in words of blasphemy against the pope and 
his cardinals, swearing by God's teeth, that, if they or any 
other priests soever presumptuously dared to lay his domi- 
nions under an interdict, he would immediately send all the 
prelates of England, clerks as well as ordained persons, to 
the pope, and confiscate all their propert}^; he added more- 
over, that all the clerks of Rome or of the pope himself who 
could be found in England or in his other territories, he 
would send to Rome with their eyes plucked out, and their 
noses slit, that by these marks they might be known there 
from other people; in addition to this he plainly ordered the 
bishops to take themselves quickly from his sight, if they 
wished to keep their bodies free from harm. The bishops 
then, not finding any repentance in the king, departed, and, 
in the Lent following, fearlessly fulfilled the duty required of 
them by the pope, and accordingly on the morning of Monday 
in Passion week, which that year fell on the 23rd of March, 
they laid a general interdict on the whole of England ; which, 
since it was expressed to be by authority of our lord the 
pope, was inviolably observed by all without regard of person 
or privileges. Therefore all church services ceased to be 
performed in England, with the exception only of confession, 
and the viaticum in cases of extremity, and the baptism of 
children ; the bodies of the dead too were carried out of cities 



THE PAPAL AUTHORITY TRIUMPHANT 157 

and towns, and buried in roads and ditches without prayers 
or the attendance of priests. What need I say more?. 

68. John excommunicated by Name 

A. 1209. King John had now for nearly two years, as has 
been said before, unceasingly continued throughout England, 
on account of the interdict, a most severe persecution against 
the clergy as well as some of the laity, and had entirely de- 
stroyed all kind of hope in every one of any improvement or 
satisfaction, and pope Innocent could no longer put off the 
punishment of his rebellion ; wherefore, by the advice of his 
cardinals, he, in order to cut up by the root such an insult 
to the church, gave orders to the bishops of London, Ely, 
and Winchester, to declare the said king excommunicated by 
name, and solemnly to publish this sentence every Sunday 
and feast day in all the conventual churches throughout 
England, that thus the king might be more strictly shunned 
by every one. But after the aforesaid bishops had, by the 
apostolic authority, entrusted the publication of this sentence 
to their fellow bishops who had remained in England, and to 
the other prelates of the church, they all, through fear of or 
regard for the king, became like dumb dogs not daring to 
bark, wherefore they put off fulfilling the duty enjoined on 
them by the apostolic mandate, and failed to proceed accord- 
ing to the usual course of justice. Nevertheless in a short 
time the decree became known to all in the roads and streets, 
and even in the places of assembly of the people it afforded a 
subject of secret conversation to all ; amongst others, as 
Geoffrey archdeacon of Norwich was one day sitting in the 
Exchequer at Westminster, attending to the king's business, 
he began to talk privately with his companions who sat with 
him, of the decree which was sent forth against the king; 
and said that it was not safe for beneficed persons to remain 
any longer in their allegiance to an excommunicated king; 
after saying which, he went to his own house without asking 
the king's permission. This event coming soon after to the 
knowledge of the king, he was not a little annoyed, and 
sent William Talbot a knight, with some soldiers, to seize 
the archdeacon, and they, after he was taken, bound him in 
chains and threw him into prison; after he had been there 
a few days, by command of the said king a cap of lead was 
put on him, and at length, being overcome by want of food 
as well as by the weight of the leaden cap, he departed to 
the Lord. 



158 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

69. The Pope deposes the King 

A. 1212. About this time Stephen archbishop of Canter- 
bury, and the bishops William of London, and Eustace of 
Ely, went to Rome and informed the pope of the divers rebel- 
lions and enormities perpetrated by the king of England from 
the time of the interdict up to the present time, by un- 
ceasingly laying the hands of rage and cruelty on the holy 
church in opposition to the Lord; and they therefore humbly 
supplicated the pope in his pious compassion to assist the 
church of England, now labouring as it were in its last ex- 
tremities. The pope then being deeply grieved for the deso- 
lation of the kingdom of England, by the advice of his cardi- 
nals, bishops, and other wise men, definitively decreed that 
John king of England should be deposed from the throne of 
that kingdom, and that another, more worthy than he, to be 
chosen by the pope, should succeed him. In pursuance of this 
his decree, our lord the pope wrote to the most potent Philip, 
king of the French, ordering him, in remission of all his 
faults, to undertake this business, and declaring that, after 
he had expelled the English king from the throne of that 
kingdom, he and his successors should hold possession of the 
kingdom of England for ever. Besides this, he wrote to all 
the nobles, knights, and other warlike men throughout the 
different countries, ordering them to assume the sign of the 
cross, and to follow the king of the French as their leader, to 
dethrone the English king, and thus to revenge the insult 
which had been cast on the universal church : he also ordered 
that all those who afforded money or personal assistance 
in overthrowing that contumacious king, should, like those 
who went to visit the Lord's sepulchre, remain secure under 
the protection of the church, as regarded their property, 
persons, and spiritual interests. After this the pope, on his 
part, sent Pandulph, a sub-deacon, with the archbishop and 
bishops above-named, into the French provinces, that in his 
own presence all his commands above related might be ful- 
filled; Pandulph, however, on leaving the pope when all 
others were away from him, secretly inquired of his holiness 
what it was his pleasure should be done, if by chance he 
should find any of the fruits of repentance in John, so that 
he would give satisfaction to the Lord and the church of 
Rome for all matters in regard of this business. The pope 
then dictated a simple form of peace, and said that if John 
determined to agree to it, he might find favour with the 
apostolic see. 



THE PAPAL AUTHORITY TRIUMPHANT 159 

70. The Papal Legate in England 

A. 1213. Whilst the English king was with his army- 
waiting the approach of the king of the French near the sea- 
coast, two of the brothers of the Temple arrived at Dover, 
and coming to the king in a friendly manner said to him : 
"We have been sent to you, most potent king, for the benefit 
of yourself and your kingdom, by Pandulph the sub-deacon 
and familiar of our lord the pope, who desires to have an 
interview with you ; and he will propose to you a form of 
peace, by which you can be reconciled to God and to the 
church, although you have by the court of Rome been deposed 
from your right to the sovereignty of England, and been 
condemned by decree of that court." The king then, on hear- 
ing the speech of the Templars, ordered them immediately 
to cross the sea and fetch Pandulph to him. Pandulph there- 
fore, on this invitation of the king came to him at Dover, and 
spoke to him in these words : "Behold, the most potent king 
of the French is at the mouth of the Seine with a countless 
fleet, and a large army of horse and foot, waiting till he is 
strengthened with a larger force, to come upon you and your 
kingdom, and to expel you from it by force, as an enemy 
to the Lord and the supreme pontiff, and afterwards, by- 
authority of the apostolic see to take possession of the king- 
dom of England for ever. There also coming with him all 
the bishops who have for a long while been banished from 
England, with the exiled clergy and laity, by his assistance, 
to recover by force their episcopal sees and other property, 
and to fulfil to him for the future the obedience formerly 
shown to you and your ancestors. The said king moreover 
says that he holds papers of fealty and subjection from al- 
most all the nobles of England, on which account he feels 
secure of bringing the business he has undertaken to a most 
successful termination. Consult therefore your own ad- 
vantage, and become penitent as if you were in your last 
moments, and delay not to appease that God whom you have 
provoked to a heavy vengeance. If you are willing to give 
sufficient security that you will submit to the judgment of 
the church, and to humble yourself before Him who humbled 
himself for you, you may, through the compassion of the 
apostolic see, recover the sovereignty, from which you have 
been abjudicated at Rome on account of your contumacy. 
Now therefore reflect, lest your enemies shall have cause to 
rejoice over you, and bring not yourself into difficulties, 



i6o SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

from which, however you may wish to do so, you will not be 
able to extricate yourself." 

71. The Repentance of the King 

[a.d. 1213.] King John, hearing and seeing the truth of all 
this, was much annoyed and alarmed, seeing how imminent 
the danger was on every side. There were four principal 
reasons, which urged him to repentance and atonement; the 
first was that he had been now for five years lying under 
excommunication, and had so offended God and the holy 
church, that he gave up all hopes of saving his soul; the 
second was, that he dreaded the arrival of the French king, 
who was waiting near the sea-coast with a countless army, 
and planning his downfall; the third was, he feared, should 
he give battle to his approaching enemies, lest he should be 
abandoned to himself in the field by the nobles of England 
and his own people, or be given up to his enemies for destruc- 
tion; but his fourth reason alarmed him more than all the 
rest, for the day of our Lord's ascension was drawing near, 
when he feared that, according to the prophecy of Peter the 
hermit mentioned above, he should with his life lose the tem- 
poral as well as the eternal kingdom. Being therefore driven 
to despair by these and the like reasons he yielded to the 
persuasions of Pandulph, and, although not without pain, he 
granted the underwritten form of peace ; he also swore by 
the holy gospels in the presence of Pandulph, that he would 
be obedient to the church's sentence, and sixteen of the most 
powerful nobles of the kingdom swore on the soul of the 
king himself, that, should he repent of his promise, they 
would, to the utmost of their power, compel him to fulfil it. 

72. John resigns Crown and Kingdom to the Pope 

[a.d. 1213.] Matters having been thus arranged on the fif- 
teenth of May, which was the eve of Ascension-day, the Eng- 
lish king and Pandulph, with the nobles of the kingdom, met 
at the house of the Knights Templars near Dover, and there 
the said king, according to a decree pronounced at Rome, 
resigned his crown with the kingdoms of England and Ire- 
land into the hands of our lord the pope, whose functions the 
said Pandulph was then performing. After having resigned 
them then he gave the aforesaid kingdoms to the pope and 
his successors, and confirmed them to the latter by the 
underwritten charter; — 



THE PAPAL AUTHORITY TRIUMPHANT i6t 

"John, by the grace of God, king of England, &c. to all the 
faithfid servants of Christ who shall behold this charter, 
health in the Lord. — We wish it, by this our charter signed 
with our seal, to be known to you, that we, having in many 
things offended God and our mother the holy church, and 
being in great need of the divine mercy for our sins, and not 
having wherewithal to make a worthy offering as an atone 
ment to God, and to pay the just demands of the church, un- 
less we humiliate ourselves before Him who humiliated 
himself for us even to death ; we, impelled by the inspiration 
of the Holy Spirit, and not by force or from fear of the 
interdict, but of our own free will and consent, and by the 
general advice of our barons, assign and grant to God, and 
his holy apostles Peter and Paul, and to the holy church of 
Rome our mother, and to our lord pope Innocent and his 
catholic successors, the whole kingdom of England and the 
whole kingdom of Ireland, with all their rights and ap- 
purtenances, in remission of the sins of us and our whole 
race, as well for those living as for the dead ; and hence- 
forth we retain and hold those countries from him and the 
church of Rome as vicegerent, and this we declare in the 
presence of this learned man Pandulph, subdeacon and 
familiar of our lord the pope. i\nd we have made our hom- 
age and sworn allegance to our lord the pope and his catholic 
successors, and the church of Rome in manner hereunder 
written ; and we will make our homage and allegiance for the 
same in presence of our lord the pope himself, if we are able 
to go before him ; and v\^e bind our successors and heirs by 
our wife for ever, in like manner, to do homage and render 
allegiance, without opposition, to the supreme pontiff for the 
time being, and the church of Rome. And in token of this 
lasting bond and grant, we will and determine that, from our 
own income and from our special revenues arising from the 
aforesaid kingdoms, the church of Rome shall, for all service 
and custom which we owe to them, saving always the St. 
Peter's pence, receive annually a thousand marks sterling- 
money ; that is to say, five hundred marks at Michaelmas, 
and five hundred at Easter; that is, seven hundred for the 
kingdom of England, and three hundred for Ireland; saving 
to us and our heirs all our rights, privileges, and royal cus- 
toms. And as we wish to ratify and confirm all that has 
been above written, we bind ourselves and our successors 
not to contravene it; and if we, or any one of our successors, 
shall dare to oppose this, let him, whoever he be, be deprived 



i62 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

of his right in the kingdom. And let this charter of our 
bond and grant remain confirmed for ever. Witness myself 
at the hause of the knights of the Temple near Dover, in the 
presence of Henry archbishop of Dubl.n, John bishop of Nor- 
wich, Geoffrey Fitz-Peter, William earl of Salisbury, William 
earl of Pembroke, Reginald count of Boulogne, William earl 
Warenne, Sayer earl Winton, William earl of Arundel, 
William earl of Ferrars, William Briuere, Peter Fitz-Here- 
bert, and Warin Fitz-Gerald, this fifteenth day of May, in 
the fourteenth year of our reign." 

73. John does Homage to the Pope 

[a.d. 1213.] This charter of the king's, as above-mentioned, 
having been reduced to writing, he delivered it to Pandulph 
to be taken to pope Innocent, and immediately afterwards in 
the sight of all, he made the underwritten homage : 'T, John, 
by the grace of God, king of England and lord of Ireland, 
will, from this time as formerly, be faithful to God, St. Peter, 
the church of Rome, and to my liege lord pope Innocent and 
his catholic successors; I will not act, speak, consent to, or 
advise, anything by which they may lose life or limb, or be 
exposed to caption by treachery; I will prevent damage to 
them if I am aware of it; and, if in my power, will repair it; 
or else I will inform them as soon as in my power so to do, 
or will tell it to such a person as I believe will be sure to in- 
form them of it; any purpose which they may entrust to me 
themselves, or by their messengers or letters, I will keep 
secret, and, if I know of it, will not disclose it to any one to 
their injury; I will assist in holding and defending the in- 
heritance of St. Peter, and particularly the kingdoms of Eng- 
land and Ireland, against all men, to the utmost of my power. 
So may God and the holy gospel help me. Amen." • — 

[a.d. 1214.] By the advice of Pandulph, . . . Stephen arch- 
bishop of Canterbury, and the bishops William of London, 
Eustace of Ely, Hubert of Lincoln, and Giles of Hereford, 
embarked in company with others of the clergy and laity who 
were in exile on account of the interdict, and, landing at 
Dover on the i6th of July, they set out to see the king, and 
came to him at Winchester on St. Margaret the virgin's day. 
The king, when he heard of their approach, went out to meet 
them, and when he saw the archbishop and bishops, he pros- 
trated himself at their feet, and besought them in tears to 



THE PAPAL AUTHORITY TRIUMPHANT 163 

have compassion on him and the kingdom of England. The 
said archbishop and bishops, seeing the king's great humility, 
raised him from the ground, and taking him by the hand on 
each side, they led him to the door of the cathedral church, 
where they chanted the fiftieth psalm, and, in the presence 
of all the nobles, who wept with joy, they absolved him 
according to the custom of the church. At this absolution, 
the king swore on the holy gospels that he would love holy 
church and its ordained members, and would, to the utmost 
of his power, defend and maintain them against all their 
enemies; and that he would renew all the good laws of his 
ancestors, especially those of king Edward, would annul bad 
ones, would judge his subjects according to the just decrees 
of his courts, and would restore his rights to each and all. 
He also swore that, before the next Easter, he would make 
restitution of confiscated property to all who were concerned 
in the matter of the interdict; and if he did not do so, he 
would consent to have the former sentence of excommunica- 
tion renewed. He moreover swore fealty and obedience to 
pope Innocent and his catholic successors, as was contained 
in the above-written charter: the archbishop then took the 
king into the church, and there performed mass, after which 
the archbishop, bishops, and nobles, feasted at the same table 
with the king, amidst joy and festivity. The next day the 
king sent letters to all the sheriffs of the kingdom, ordering 
them to send four liege men from each town in their demesne, 
together with the warden, to St, Alban's on the 4th of August, 
that through them and his other agents he might make in- 
quiries about the losses and confiscated property of each of 
the bishops, and how much was due to each. He then set out 
in all haste to Portsmouth, that he might thence cross to 
Poictou, and gave charge of the kingdom to Geoffrey Fitz- 
Peter and the bishop of Winchester, with orders that they 
were to consult with the archbishop of Canterbury in ar- 
ranging the business of the kingdom. On the king's arrival 
at Portsmouth, there came to him there an immense number 
of knights, complaining that, during their long stay there 
they had spent all their money, and that therefore unless they 
were supplied with money from the treasury, they could not 
follow him. This the king refused, but, flying into a rage, 
he embarked with his private attendants, and after three days 
landed at Guernsey, whilst his nobles returned home ; and 
the king, seeing himself thus abandoned, was compelled to 
return to England himself. 



i64 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

74. Declaration of Laws and Rights 

[a.d. 1214.] Whilst this was passing, Geoffrey Fitz-Peter 
and the bishop of Winchester held a council at St. Alban's 
with the archbishop, bishops, and nobles of the kingdom, at 
which the peace made by the king was told to all, and, on 
behalf of the said king, it was strictly ordered, that all the 
laws of his grandfather king Henry should be kept by all 
throughout the kingdom, and that all unjust laws should be 
utterly abolished. 

(Roger of Wendover's Flowers 0/ History. Trans. J. A. Giles, Lond. 1849 
II, for years given.) 



CHAPTER X 

THE WINNING OF THE CHARTER 



75. The Rising of the Barons 

Roger of Wendoi<er 

The sequence of events leading to the grant of the Charter by 
John not only throws light upon the character of that monarch, 
but gives a clear view of the political conditions in the early part 
of the thirteenth century. 

THE REASON OF THE IRRITATION OF THE BARONS AGAINST 

THE KING 

[a.d, 1214.] On the 25th of August in the same year, 
Stephen archbishop of Canterbtiry, with the bishops, abbats, 
priors, deacons, and barons of the kingdom assembled at St. 
Paul's, in the city of London. At this conference, as report 
asserts, the said archbishop called some of the nobles aside 
to him, and conversed privately with them to the following 
effect, "Did you hear," said he, "how, when I absolved the 
king at Winchester, I made him swear that he would do away 
with unjust laws, and would recall good laws, such as those 
of King Edward, and cause them to be observed by all in the 
kingdom ; a charter of Henry the first king of England has 
just now been found, by which you may, if you wish it, recall 
your long-lost rights and your former condition." And 
placing a paper in the midst of them, he ordered it to be read 
aloud for all to hear. [It was the charter of Henry I.] 

76. Of a Conference held by the Barons against King John 

[a.d. 1214.] About this time the earls and barons of Eng- 
land assembled at St. Edmund's, as if for religious duties, 
although it was for some other reason ; for after they had dis- 
coursed together secretly for a time, there was placed before 
them the charter of king Henry the First, which they had 
received, as mentioned before, in the city of London from 
Stephen archbishop of Canterbury. This charter contained 



i66 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

certain liberties and laws granted to the holy church as well 
as to the nobles of the kingdom, besides some liberties which 
the king added of his own accord. All therefore assembled 
in the church of St. Edmund, the king and martyr, and, com- 
mencing from those of the highest rank, they all swore on 
the great altar that, if the king refused to grant these liber- 
ties and laws, they themselves would withdraw from their 
allegiance to him, and make war on him, till he should, by a 
charter under his own seal, confirm to them every thing they 
required; and finally it was unanimously agreed that, after 
Christmas, they should all go together to the king and demand 
the confirmation of the aforesaid liberties to them, and that 
they should in the meantime provide themselves with horses 
and arms, so that if the king should endeavour to depart from 
his oath, they might by taking his castles, compel him to 
satisfy their demands; and having arranged this, each man 
returned home. 

77. Demands of the Barons 

A.D. 1215; which was the seventeenth year of the reign of 
king John ; he held his court at Winchester at Christmas for 
one day, after which he hurried to London, and took up his 
abode at the New Temple; and at that place the above- 
mentioned nobles came to him in gay military array, and 
, demanded the confirmation of the liberties and laws of king 
Edward, with other liberties granted to them and to the king- 
dom and church of England, as were contained in the charter, 
and above-mentioned laws of Henry the First; they also 
asserted that, at the time of his absolution at Winchester, he 
had promised to restore those law^s and ancient liberties, and 
was bound by his own oath to observe them. The king, hear- 
ing the bold tone of the barons in making this demand, much 
feared an attack from them, as he saw that they were pre- 
pared for battle ; he however made answer that their demands 
were a matter of importance and difficulty, and he therefore 
asked a truce till the end of Easter, that he might, after due 
deliberation, be able to satisfy them as well as the dignity of 
his crown. After much discussion on both sides, the king 
at length, although unwillingly, procured the archbishop of 
Canterbury, the bishop of Ely, and William Marshal, as his 
sureties, that on the day pre-agreed on he would, in all 
reason, satisfy them all, on which the nobles returned to their 
homes. The king how^ever, wishing to take precautions 



THE WINNING OF THE CHARTER 167 

against the future, caused all the nobles throughout England 
to swear fealty to him alone against all men, and to renew 
their homage to him; and, the better to take care of himself, 
he, on the day of St. Mary's purification, assumed the cross 
of our Lord, being induced to this more by fear than devo- 
tion . . . 

In Easter week of this same year, the above-mentioned 
nobles assembled at Stamford, with horses and arms ; for 
they had now induced almost all the nobility of the whole 
kingdom to join them, and constituted a very large army; for 
in their army there were computed to be two thousand 
knights, besides horse soldiers, attendants, and foot soldiers, 
who were variously equipped ... all of these being united by 
oath, were supported by the concurrence of Stephen arch- 
bishop of Canterbury, who was at their head. The king at 
this time was awaiting the arrival of his nobles at Oxford. 
On the Monday next after the octaves of Easter, the said 
barons assembled in the town of Brackley; and when the king 
learned this, he sent the archbishop of Canterbury, and 
William Marshal earl of Pembroke, with some other prudent 
men, to them to inquire what the laws and liberties were 
which they demanded. The barons then delivered to the 
messengers a paper, containing in great measure the laws 
and ancient customs of the kingdom, and declared that, un- 
less the king immediately granted them and confirmed them 
under his own seal, they would, by taking possession of his 
fortresses, force him to give them sufficient satisfaction as 
to their before-named demands. The archbishop with his 
fellow messengers then carried the paper to the king, and 
read to him the heads of the paper one by one throughout. 
The king when he heard the purport of these heads, derisively 
said, with the greatest indignation, ''Why, amongst these un- 
just demands, did not the barons" ask for my kingdom also? 
Their demands are vain and visionary, and are unsupported 
by any plea of reason whatever." And at length he angrily 
declared with an oath, that he would never grant them such 
liberties as would render him their slave. . . . 

As the archbishop and William Marshall could not by any 
persuasions induce the king to agree to their demands, they 
returned by the king's order to the barons, and duly reported 
all they had heard from the king to them ; and when the 
nobles heard what John said, they appointed Robert Fitz- 
Walter commander of their soldiers, giving him the title of 
"Marshal of the army of Cod and the holy church," and then, 



168 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

one and all flying to arms, they directed their forces towards 
Northampton. 

78. London given up to the Barons 

[a.d. 1215.] When the army of the barons arrived at Bed- 
ford, they were received with all respect by William de 
Beaiichamp. There also came to them there messengers from 
the city of London, secretly telling them, if they wished to 
get into that city, to come there immediately. The barons, 
inspirited by the arrival of this agreeable message, imme- 
diately moved their camp and arrived at Ware; after this 
they marched the whole night, and arrived early in the morn- 
ing at the city of London, and, finding the gates open, they, 
on the 24th of May, which was the Sunday next before our 
Lord's ascension, entered the city without any tumult w^hilst 
the inhabitants were performing divine service; for the rich 
citizens were favourable to the barons, and the poor ones 
were afraid to murmur against them. The barons having 
thus got into the city, placed their own guards in charge of 
each of the gates, and then arranged all matters in the city 
at will. They then took security from the citizens, and sent 
letters throughout England to those earls, barons, and 
knights, who appeared to be still faithful to the king, though 
they only pretended to be so, and advised them with threats, 
as they regarded the safety of all their property and pos- 
sessions, to abandon a king who was perjured and who 
warred against his barons, and together with them to stand 
firm and fight against the king for their rights and for peace ; 
and that, if they refused to do this, they, the barons, would 
make war against them all, as against open enemies, and 
would destroy their castles, burn their houses and other build- 
ings, and destroy their warrens, parks, and orchards. . . . The 
pleas of the exchequer and of the sheriffs courts ceased 
throughout England, because there was no one to make a 
valuation for the king or to obey him in any thing. 

79. Meeting at Runnymede 

[a.d. 1215.] King John, when he saw that he was deserted 
by almost all, so that out of his regal superabundance of fol- 
lowers he scarcely retained seven knights, was much alarmed 
lest the barons would attack his castles and reduce them 
without difficulty, as they would find no obstacle to their so 
doing; and he deceitfully pretended to make peace for a time 



THE WINNING OF THE CHARTER 169 

with the aforesaid barons, and sent William Marshal earl of 
Pembroke, with other trustworthy messengers, to them, and 
told them that, for the sake of peace, and for the exaltation 
and honour of the kingdom, he would willingly grant them 
ihe laws and liberties they required; he also sent word to the 
barons by these same messengers, to appoint a fitting day 
and place to meet and carry all these matters into effect. The 
king's messengers then came in all haste to London, and with- 
out deceit reported to the barons all that had been deceitfully 
imposed on them ; they in their great joy appointed the fif- 
teenth of June for the king to meet them, at a field lying 
between Staines and Windsor. Accordingly, at the time and 
place pre-agreed on, the king and nobles came to the ap- 
pointed conference, and when each party had stationed them- 
selves apart from the other, they began a long discussion 
about terms of peace and the aforesaid liberties. ... At 
length, after various points on both sides had been discussed, 
king John, seeing that he was inferior in strength to the 
barons, without raising any difficulty, granted the under- 
written laws and liberties, and confirmed them by his charter 
as follows : — 

{Rog-er 0/ We7idover , ed, cited, vol. II.) 

80. The Magna Charta 

(17 John, June 15, 1215) 

Foremost among those great documents which illustrate and 
establish the rights of Englishmen stands the Magna Charta. 
The text is given in full, for the document should be studied in 
its entirety. Every paragraph is of importance to the student — 
though much might be of little interest to the casual reader. — and 
in a source book none of it can properly be omitted. The events 
leading up to the charter have been given in considerable detail, 
not only because of the importance of their result, but also for 
the light which they throw upon the method by which rights were 
obtained and wrongs righted. The value of illustrative material 
does not lie alone in the words thereof, but also in the train of 
thought which they suggest. 

John, by the grace of God, King of England, Lord of Ire- 
land, Duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, Count of Anjou. to 
the archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, barons, justiciars, for- 
esters, sheriffs, reeves, servants, and all bailiffs and his faith- 
ful people greeting. Know that by the suggestion of God 
and for the good of our soul and those of all our predeces- 
sors and of our heirs, to the honour of God and the exalta- 
tion of holy church, and the improvement of our kingdom, 
by the ad^'ice of our venerable fathers Stephen, archbishop 



170 SOURCE-BOOK OP ENGLISH HISTORY 

of Canterbury, primate of all England and cardinal of the 
holy Roman church, Henry, archbishop of Dublin, William 
of London, Peter of Winchester, Jocelyn of Bath and Glas- 
tonbury, Hugh of Lincoln, Walter of Worcester, William of 
Coventry, and Benedict of Rochester, bishops; of Master 
Pandulph, subdeacon and companion of the Lord Pope, of 
Brother Aymeric, master of the Knights of the Temple in 
England; and of the noblemen William Marshall, Earl of 
Pembroke, William, Earl of Salisbury, William, Earl of 
Warren, William, Earl of Arundel, Alan of Galloway, con- 
stable of Scotland, Warren Fitz-Gerald, Peter Fitz-Herbert, 
Hubert de Burgh, steward of Poitou, Hugh de Nevil, Mat- 
thew Fitz-Herbert, Thomas Bassett, Alan Bassett, Philip 
d'Albini, Robert de Roppelay, John Marshall, John Fitz- 
Hugh, and others of our faithful. 

1. In the first place we have granted to God, and by this 
our present charter confirmed, for us and our heirs forever, 
that the English church shall be free, and shall hold its rights 
entire and its liberties uninjured; and we will that it thus be 
observed; which is shown by this, that the freedom of elec- 
tions, which is considered to be most important and especially 
necessary to the English church, we, of our pure and spon- 
taneous will, granted, and by our charter confirmed, before 
the contest between us and our barons had arisen; and ob- 
tained a confirmation of it by the lord Pope Innocent III. ; 
which we will observe and which we will shall be observed 
in good faith by our heirs forever. 

We have granted moreover to all free men of pur kingdom 
for us and our heirs forever all the liberties written below, 
to be had and holden by themselves and their heirs from us 
and our heirs. 

2. If any of our earls or barons, or others holding from us 
in chief by military service shall have died, and when he has 
died his heir shall be of full age and owe relief, he shall have 
his inheritance by the ancient relief; that is to say, the heir 
or heirs of an earl for the whole barony of an earl a hundred 
pounds; the heir or heirs of a baron for a whole barony a 
hundred pounds; the heir or heirs of a knight, for a whole 
knight's fee, a hundred shillings at most ; and who owes less 
let him give less according to the ancient custom of fiefs. 

3. If moreover the heir of any one of such shall be under 
age, and shall be in wardship, when he comes of age he shall 
have his inheritance without relief and without a fine. 

4. The custodian of the land of such a minor heir shall not 



THE WINNING OF THE CHARTER 171 

take from the land of the heir any except reasonable prod- 
ucts, reasonable customary payments, and reasonable ser- 
vices, and this without destruction or waste of men or of 
property; and if we shall have committed the custody of the 
land of any such a one to the sheriff or to any other who is 
to be responsible to us for its proceeds, and that man shall 
have caused destruction or waste from his custody we will 
recover damages from him, and the land shall be committed 
to two legal and discreet men of that fief, who shall be re- 
sponsible for its proceeds to us or to him to whom we have 
assigned them; and if we shall have given or sold to any one 
the custody of any such land, and he has caused destruction 
or waste there, he shall lose that custody, and it shall be 
handed over to two legal and discreet men of that fief who 
shall be in like manner responsible to us as is said above. 

5. The custodian moreover, so long as he shall have the 
custody of the land, must keep up the houses, parks, warrens, 
fish ponds, mills, and other things pertaining to the land, 
from the proceeds of the land itself ; and he must return to 
the heir, when he has come to full age, all his land, furnished 
with ploughs and implements of husbandry according as the 
time of wainage requires and as the proceeds of the land are 
able reasonably to sustain. 

6. Heirs shall be married without disparity, so neverthe- 
less that before the marriage is contracted, it shall be an- 
nounced to the relatives by blood of the heir himself. 

7. A widow, after the death of her husband, shall have her 
marriage portion and her inheritance immediately and with- 
out obstruction, nor shall she give anything for her dowry or 
for her marriage portion, or for her inheritance which in- 
heritance her husband and she held on the day of the death 
of her husband ; and she may remain in the house of her hus- 
band for forty days after his death, within which time her 
dowry shall be assigned to her. 

8. No widow shall be compelled to marry so long as she 
prefers to live without a husband, provided she gives security 
that she will not marry without our consent, if she holds from 
us, or without the consent of her lord from whom she holds, 
if she holds from another. 

9. Neither we nor our bailiffs will seize any land or rent, 
for any debt, so long as the chattels of the debtor are suffi- 
cient for the payment of the debt; nor shall the pledges of a 
debtor be distrained so long as the principal debtor himself 
has enough for the payment of the debt; and if the principal 



172 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

debtor fails in the payment of the debt, not having the where- 
withal to pay it, the pledges shall be responsible for the debt ; 
and if they wish, they shall have the lands and the rents of 
the debtor until they shall have been satisfied for the debt 
which they have before paid for him, unless the principal 
debtor shall have shown himself to be quit in that respect 
towards those pledges. 

10. If any one has taken anything from the Jews, by way 
of a loan, more or less, and dies before that debt is paid, the 
debt shall not draw interest so long as the heir is under age, 
from whomsoever he holds; and if that debt falls into our 
hands, we will take nothing except the chattel contained in 
the agreement. 

11. And if any one dies leaving a debt owing to the Jews, 
his wife shall have her dowry, and shall pay nothing of that 
debt; and if there remain minor children of the dead man, 
necessaries shall be provided for them corresponding to the 
holding of the dead man ; and from the remainder shall be 
paid the debt, the service of the lords being retained. In the 
same way debts are to be treated which are owed to others 
than the Jews. 

12. No scutage or aid shall be imposed in our kingdom ex- 
cept by the common council of our kingdom, except for the 
ransoming of our body, for the making of our oldest son a 
knight, and for once marrying our oldest daughter, and for 
these purposes it shall be only a reasonable aid; in the same 
way it shall be done concerning the aids of the city of 
London. 

13. And the city of London shall have all its ancient liber- 
ties and free customs, as well by land as by water. More- 
over, we will and grant that all other cities and boroughs and 
villages and ports shall have all their liberties and free 
customs. 

14. And for holding a common council of the kingdom 
concerning the assessment of an aid otherwise than in the 
three cases mentioned above, or concerning the assessment 
of a scutage, we shall cause to be summoned the archbishops, 
bishops, abbots, earls, and greater barons by our letters under 
seal; and besides we shall cause to be summoned generally, 
by our sheriffs and bailiffs, all those who hold from us in 
chief, for a certain day, that is at the end of forty days at 
least, and for a certain place; and in all the letters of that 
summons, we will express the cause of the summons and 
when the summons has thus been given the business shall 



THE WINNING OF THE CHARTER 173 

proceed on the appointed day, on the advice of those who 
shall be present, even if not all of those who were summoned 
have come. 

15. We will not grant to any one, moreover, that he shall 
take an aid from his free men, except for ransoming his 
body, for making his oldest son a knight, and for once marry- 
ing his oldest daughter; and for these purposes only a reason- 
able aid shall be taken. 

16. No one shall be compelled to perform any greater ser- 
vice for a knight's fee, or for any other free tenement than 
is owed from it. 

17. The common pleas shall not follow our court, but shall 
be held in some certain place. 

18. The recognitions of novel disseisin, tnort tVancestor, 
and darrein presentment shall be held only in their own coun- 
ties and in this manner: we, or, if we are outside of the king- 
dom, our principal justiciar, will send two justiciars through 
each county four times a year, who with four knights of each 
county, elected by the county, shall hold in the county and 
on the day and in the place of the county court, the aforesaid 
assizes of the county. 

19. And if the aforesaid assizes cannot be held within the 
day of the county court, a sufficient number of knights and 
free-holders shall remain from those who were present at the 
county court on that day to give the judgments, according as 
the business is more or less. 

20. A free man shall not be fined for a small offence, ex- 
cept in proportion to the measure of the offence ; and for a 
great offence he shall be fined in proportion to the magni- 
tude of the offence, saving his freehold; and a merchant in 
the same way, saving his merchandise ; and the villain shall 
be fined in the same way, saving his wainage, if he shall be 
at our mercy; and none of the above fines shall be imposed 
except by the oaths of honest men of the neighbourhood. 

21. Earls and barons shall only be fined by their peers, and 
only in proportion to their offence. 

22. A clergyman shall be fined, like those before men- 
tioned, only in proportion to his lay holding, and not accord- 
ing to the extent of his ecclesiastical benefice. 

23. No manor or man shall be compelled to make bridges 
over the rivers except those which ought to do it of old and 
rightfully. 

24. No sheriff, constable, coroners, or other bailiffs of ours 
shall hold pleas of our crown. 



174 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

25. All counties, hundreds, wapentakes, and tithings shall 
be at the ancient rents and without any increase, excepting 
our demesne manors. 

26. If any person holding a lay fief from us shall die, and 
our sheriff or bailiff shall show our letters-patent of our 
summons concerning a debt which the deceased owed to us, 
it shall be lawful for our sheriff or bailiff to attach and levy 
on the chattels of the deceased found on his lay lief, to the 
value of that debt, in the view of legal men, so nevertheless 
that nothing be removed thence until the clear debt to us 
shall be paid ; and the remainder shall be left to the executors 
for the fulfilment of the will of the deceased; and if nothing 
is owed to us by him, all the chattels shall go to the deceased, 
saving to his wife and children their reasonable shares. 

2y. If any free man dies intestate, his chattels shall be 
distributed by the hands of his near relatives and friends, 
under the oversight of the church, saving to each one the 
debts which the deceased owed to him. 

28. No constable or other bailiff of ours shall take any- 
one's grain or other chattels, without immediately paying 
for them in money, unless he is able to obtain a postponement 
at the good-will of the seller. 

29. No constable shall require any knight to give money 
in place of his ward of a castle if he is willing to furnish that 
ward in his own person or through another honest man, if 
he himself is not able to do it for a reasonable cause ; and if 
we shall lead or send him into the army he shall be free 
from ward in proportion to the amount of time by which he 
has been in the army through us. 

30. No sheriff or bailiff of ours or any one else shall take 
horses or wagons of any free man for carrying purposes ex- 
cept on the permission of that free man, 

31. Neither we nor our bailiffs will take the wood of 
another man for castles, or for anything else which we are 
doing, except by the permission of him to whom the wood 
belongs. 

32. We will not hold the lands of those convicted of a 
felony for more than a year and a day, after which the lands 
shall be returned to the lords of the fiefs. 

33. All the fish-weirs in the Thames and the Medway, and 
throughout all England, shall be done away with, except 
those on the coast. 

34. The writ which is called prcccipe shall not be given for 
the future to anyone concerning any tenement by which a 
free man can lose his court. 



THE WINNING OF THE CHARTER 175 

35. There shall be one measure of wine throughout our 
whole kingdom, and one measure of ale, and one measure 
of grain, that is the London quarter, and one width of dyed 
cloth and of russets and of halbergets, that is two ells within 
the selvages ; of weights, moreover, it shall be as of measures. 

36. Nothing shall henceforth be given or taken for a writ 
of inquisition concerning life or limbs, but it shall be given 
freely and not denied. 

2,"/. If anyone holds from us by fee farm or by soccage or 
by burgage, and from another he holds land by military 
service, we will not have the guardianship of the heir of 
his land which is of the fief of another, on account of that 
fee farm, or soccage, or burgage; nor will we have the 
custody of that fee farm, or soccage, or burgage, unless that 
fee farm itself owes military service. We will not have 
the guardianship of the heir or of the land of anyone, which 
he holds from another by military service on account of any 
petty serjeanty which he holds from us by the service of 
paying to us knives or arrows, or things of that kind. 

38. No bailiff for the future shall place anyone to his law 
on his simple affirmation, without credible witnesses brought 
for this purpose. 

39. No free man shall be taken or imprisoned or dis- 
possessed, or outlawed, or banished, or in any way destroyed, 
nor will we go upon him, nor send upon him, except by the 
legal judgment of his peers or by the law of the land. 

40. To no one will we sell, to no one will we deny, or delay 
right or justice. 

41. All merchants shall be safe and secure in going out 
from England and coming into England and in remaining 
and going through England, as well by land as by water, for 
buying and selling, free from all evil tolls, by the ancient and 
rightful customs, except in time of war, and if they are of 
a land at war with us; and if such are found in our land at 
the beginning of war, they shall be attached without injury 
to their bodies or goods, until it shall be known from us or 
from our principal justiciar in what way the merchants of 
our land are treated who shall be then found in the country 
which is at war with us; and if ours are safe there, the 
others shall be safe in our land. 

42. It is allowed henceforth to anyone to go out from our 
kingdom, and to return, safely and securely, by land and by 
water, saving their fidelit}^ to us, except in time of war for 
some short time, for the common good of the kingdom ; ex- 



176 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

cepting persons imprisoned and outlawed according to the 
law of the realm, and people of a land at war with us, and 
merchants, of whom it shall be done as is before said. 

43. If anyone holds from any escheat, as from the honour 
of Wallingford, or Nottingham, or Boulogne, or Lancaster, 
or from other escheats which are in our hands and are 
baronies, and he dies, his heir shall not give any other relief, 
nor do to us any other service than he would do to the 
baron, if that barony was in the hands of the baron; and we 
will hold it in the same way as the baron held it. 

44. Men who dwell outside the forest shall not henceforth 
come before our justiciars of the forest, on common sum- 
mons, unless they are in a plea of, or pledges for any person 
or persons who are arrested on account of the forest. 

45. We will not make justiciars, constables, sheriffs or 
bailiffs except of such as know the law of the realm and are 
well inclined to observe it. 

46. All barons who have founded abbeys for which they 
have charters of kings of England, or ancient tenure, shall 
have their custody when they have become vacant, as they 
ought to have. 

47. All forests which have been afforested in our time shall 
be disafforested immediately ; and so it shall be concerning 
river banks which in our time have been fenced in. 

48. All the bad customs concerning forests and warrens 
and concerning foresters and warreners, sheriffs and their 
servants, river banks and their guardians shall be inquired 
into immediately in each county by twelve sworn knights 
of the same county, who shall be elected by the honest men 
of the same county, and within forty days after the inquisi- 
tion has been made, they shall be entirely destroyed by them, 
never to be restored, provided that we be first informed of 
it, or our justiciar, if we are not in England. 

49. We will give back immediately all hostages and char- 
ters which have been liberated to us by Englishmen as 
security for peace or for faithful service. 

50. We will remove absolutely from their bailiwicks the 
relatives of Gerard de Athyes, so that for the future they 
shall have no bailiwick in England; Engelard de Cygony, 
Andrew, Peter and Gyon de Chancelles, Gyon de Cygony, 
Geoffrey de Martin and his brothers, Philip Mark and his 
brothers, and Geoffrey his nephew and their whole retinue. 

51. And immediately after the re-establishment of peace 
we will remove from the kingdom all foreign-born soldiers, 



THE WINNING OF THE CHARTER 177 

cross-bow men, servants, and mercenaries who have come 
with horses and arms for the injury of the reahii. 

52. If anyone shall have been dispossessed or removed 
by us without legal judgment of his peers, from his lands, 
castles, franchises, or his right we will restore them to him 
immediately; and if contention arises about this, then it shall 
be done according to the judgment of the twenty-five barons, 
of whom mention is made below concerning the security of 
the peace. Concerning all those things, however, from which 
anyone has been removed or of which he has been deprived 
without legal judgment of his peers by King Henry our 
father, or by King Richard our brother, which we have in 
our hand, or which others hold, and which is our duty to 
guarantee, we shall have respite till the usual term of 
crusaders ; excepting those things about which the suit has 
been begun or the inquisition made by our writ before our 
assumption of the cross ; when, however, we shall return 
from our journey, or if by chance we desist from the journey, 
we will immediately show full justice in regard to them. 

53. We shall, moreover have the same respite and in the 
same manner about showing justice in regard to the forests 
which are to be disafforested or to remain forests, which 
Henry our father or Richard our brother made into forests ; 
and concerning the custody of lands which are in the fief 
of another, custody of which we have until now had on 
account of a fief which anyone has held from us by military 
service ; and concerning the abbeys which have been founded 
in fiefs of others than ourselves, in which the lord of the 
fee has asserted for himself a right; and when we return or 
if we should desist from our journey we will immediately 
show full justice to those complaining in regard to them. 

54. No one shall be seized nor imprisoned on the appeal 
of a woman concerning the death of anyone except her 
husband. 

55. All fines which have been imposed unjustly and against 
the law of the land, and all penalties imposed unjustly and 
against the law of the land are altogether excused, or will be 
on the judgment of the twenty-five barons of whom mention 
is made below in connection with the security of the peace, 
or on the judgment of the majority of them, along with the 
aforesaid Stephen, archbishop of Canterbury, if he is able 
to be present, and others whom he may wish to call for this 
purpose along with him. And if he should not be able to 
be present, nevertheless the business shall go on without him, 



178 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

provided that if any one or more of the aforesaid twenty-five 
barons are in a similar suit they should be removed as far as 
this particular judgment goes, and others who shall be chosen 
and put upon oath, by the remainder of the twenty-five 
shall be substituted for them for this purpose. 

56. If we have dispossessed or removed any Welshmen 
from their lands, or franchises, or other things, without legal 
judgment of their peers, in England, or in Wales, they shall 
be immediately returned to them ; and if a dispute shall have 
arisen over this, then it shall be settled in the borderland by 
judgment of their peers, concerning holdings of England 
according to the law of England, concerning holdings of 
Wales according to the law of Wales, and concerning hold- 
ings of the borderland according to the law of the border- 
land. The Welsh shall do the same to us and ours. 

57. Concerning all those things, however, from which any 
one of the Welsh shall have been removed or dispossessed 
without legal judgment of his peers, by King Henry our 
father, or King Richard our brother, which we hold in our 
hands, or which others hold, and we are bound to warrant 
to them, we shall have respite till the usual period of cru- 
saders, those being excepted about which suit was begun or 
inquisition made by our command before our assumption of 
the cross. When, however, we shall return or if by chance 
we shall desist from our journey, we will show full justice 
to them immediately, according to the laws of the Welsh and 
the aforesaid parts. 

58. We will give back the son of Lewellyn immediately, 
and all the hostages from Wales and the charters which had 
been liberated to us as a security for peace. 

59. We will act toward Alexander, king of the Scots, con- 
cerning the return of his sisters and his hostages, and con- 
cerning his franchises and his right, according to the manner 
in which we shall act toward our other barons of England, 
unless it ought to be otherwise by the charters which we hold 
from William his father, formerly king of the Scots, and this 
shall be by the judgment of his peers in our court. 

60. Moreover, all those customs and franchises mentioned 
above which we have conceded in our kingdom, and w^hich 
are to be fulfilled, as far as pertains to us, in respect to our 
men ; all men of our kingdom as well clergy as laymen, shall 
observe as far as pertains to them, in respect to their men. 

61. Since, moreover, for the sake of God, and for the im- 
provement of our kingdom, and for the better quieting of 



THE WINNING OF THE CHARTER 179 

the hostility sprung up lately between us and our barons, we 
have made all these concessions; wishing them to enjoy 
these in a complete and firm stability forevei^, we make and 
concede to them the security described below ; that is to 
say, that they shall elect twenty-five barons of the kingdom, 
whom they will, who ought with all their power to observe, 
hold, and cause to be observed, the peace and liberties which 
we have conceded to them, and by this our present charter 
confirmed to them; in this manner, that if w'e or our justiciar, 
or our bailiffs, or any one of our servants shall have done 
wrong in any way toward any one, or shall have trans- 
gressed any of the articles of peace or security ; and the 
wrong shall have been shown to four barons of the aforesaid 
tw^enty-five barons, let those four barons come to us or to our 
justiciar, if we are out of the kingdom, laying before us the 
transgression, and let them ask that we cause that trans- 
gression to be corrected without delay. And if w^e shall not 
have corrected the transgression, or if w'e shall be out of the 
kingdom, if our justiciar shall not have corrected it within 
a period of forty days, counting from the time in which it 
has been shown to us or to our justiciar, if we are out of the 
kingdom; the aforesaid four barons shall refer the matter 
to the remainder of the twenty-five barons, and let these 
twenty-five barons wath the whole community of the country 
distress and injure us in every way they can ; that is to say 
by the seizure of our castles, lands, possessions, and in such 
other ways as they can until it shall have been corrected 
according to their judgment, saving our person and that of 
our queen, and those of our children ; and when the correc- 
tion has been made, let them devote themselves to us as 
they did before. And let whoever in the country wishes 
take an oath that in all the above-mentioned measures he 
will obey the orders of the aforesaid twenty-five barons,. and 
that he will injure us as far as he is able with them, and 
we give permission to swear publicly and freely to each 
one who wishes to swear, and no one will we ever forbid to 
swear. All those, moreover, in the country who of them- 
selves and their own will are unwilling to take an oath to the 
twenty-five barons as to distressing and injuring us along 
with them, we will compel to take the oath by our mandate, 
as before said. And if any one of the twenty-five barons 
shall have died or departed from the land or shall in any 
other way be prevented from taking the above-mentioned 
action, let the remainder of the aforesaid twenty-five barons 



i8o SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

choose another in his place, according to their judgment, 
who shall take an oath in the same way as the others. In 
all those things, moreover, which are committed to those five 
and twenty barons to carry out, if perhaps the twenty-five 
are present, and some disagreement arises among them about 
something, or if any of them when they have been summoned 
are not willing or are not able to be present, let that be con- 
sidered valid and firm which the greater part of those who 
are present arrange or command, just as if the whole twenty- 
five had agreed in this; and let the aforesaid twenty-five 
swear that they will observe faithfully all the things which 
are said above, and with all their ability cause them to be 
observed. And we will obtain nothing from anyone, either 
by ourselves or by another by which any of these concessions 
and liberties shall be revoked or diminished ; and if any such 
thing shall have been obtained, let it be invalid and void, 
and we will never use it by ourselves or by another. 

62. And all ill-will, grudges, and anger sprung up between 
us and our men, clergy and laymen, from the time of the 
dispute, we have fully renounced and pardoned to all. More- 
over, all transgressions committed on account of this dispute, 
from Easter in the sixteenth year of our reign till the 
restoration of peace, we have fully remitted to all, clergy and 
laymen, and as far as pertains to us, fully pardoned. And 
moreover we have caused to be made for them testimonial 
letters-patent of lord Stephen, archbishop of Canterbury, 
lord Henry, archbishop of Dublin, and of the aforesaid 
bishops and of master Pandulf, in respect to that security 
and the concession named above. 

Wherefore we will and firmly command that the Church 
of England shall be free, and that the men of our kingdom 
shall have and hold all the aforesaid liberties, rights and 
concessions, well and peacefully, freely and quietly, fully 
and completely, for themselves and their heirs, from us and 
our heirs, in all things and places, forever, as before said. 
It has been sworn, moreover, as well on our part as on the 
part of the barons, that all these things spoken of above 
shall be observed in good faith and without any evil intent. 
Witness the above named and many others. Given by our 
hand in the meadow which is called Runnymede, between 
Windsor and Staines, on the fifteenth day of June, in the 
seventeenth year of our reign. 

(Translated by E. P. Cheney, of the University of Pennsylvania 
Reprinted by permission.) 



CHAPTER XI 

THE GROWTH OF LAW 
8i. Summonses to Parliament 

Lords'' Report ofi the Dignity of a Peer 

The custom of summoning the great lords to national councils 
existed in Anglo-Saxon times. Not until after the Conquest, 
however, did the custom grow into a right, which in the Angevin 
Period gave rank to him who was summoned. The great coun- 
cils, which later grew into the Parliament, were attended — cer- 
tainly as to the Early Angevin, probably as to the Norman 
Period — only by the great nobles. In the time of the Charter, 
however, we find the lesser nobles desirous of the right of atten- 
dance, and later even representatives of the commonality — 
though in a limited degree — were given a place in these gather- 
ings, when money was to be exacted from them. The following 
forms respectively represent a summons to a great noble to 
attend the formation of a representative Parliament, and to each 
of the three estates for the Model Parliament of 1295. 

A WRIT OF SUMMONS OF THE LORDS, SPIRITUAL AND TEMPORAL^ 
TO A PARLIAMENT, 26 HENRY III. 

(1242) 

The king to the venerable father in Christ, W. archbishop 
of York, greeting. We command and require you, as you 
love us and our honour, and your own equally, and in the 
faith by which you are held to us, that laying aside all other 
business, you be with us at London, fifteen days after St. 
Hilary's day, to discuss with us, along with the rest of our 
magnates whom we have similarly caused to be convoked, 
our arduous affairs and those things which more especially 
touch our state and that of our whole kingdom ; and that you 
in no way fail to perform this. Witness the king at Windsor, 
Dec. 14th. 

In the same zvay it is written to all the bishops, abbots, 
earls, and barons. 

SUMMONS OF A BISHOP TO PARLIAMENT 

(1295) 

The king to the venerable father in Christ, Robert, by the 
same grace archbishop of Canterbury, primate of all Eng- 

181 



i82 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

land, greeting. As a most just law, established by the care- 
ful providence of sacred princes, exhorts and decrees that 
what affects all, by all should be approved, so also, very 
evidently should common danger be met by means provided 
in common. You know sufficiently well, and it is now, as 
we believe, divulged through all regions of the world, how 
the king of France fraudulently and craftily deprives us of 
our land of Gascogny, by withholding it unjustly from us. 
Now, however, not satisfied with the before-mentioned fraud 
and injustice, having gathered together for the conquest of 
our kingdom a very great fleet, and an abounding multitude 
of warriors, with which he has made a hostile attack on our 
kingdom and the inhabitants of the same kingdom, he now 
proposes to destroy the English language altogether from 
the earth, if his power should correspond to the detestable 
proposition of the contemplated injustice, which God forbid. 
Because, therefore, darts seen beforehand do less injury, and 
your interest especially, as that of the rest of the citizens 
of the same realm, is concerned in this affair, we command 
you, strictly enjoining you in the fidelity and love in which 
you are bound to us, that on the Lord's day next after the 
feast of St. Martin, in the approaching winter, you be present 
in person at Westminster, citing beforehand the dean and 
chapter of your church, the archdeacons and all the clergy 
of your diocese, causing the same dean and archdeacons in 
their own persons, and the said chapter by one suitable 
proctor, and the said clergy by two, to be present along with 
you, having full and sufficient power from the same chapter 
and clergy, to consider, ordain and provide, along with us 
and with the rest of the prelates and principal men and other 
inhabitants of our kingdom, how the dangers and threatened 
evils of this kind are to be met. Witness the king at Wang- 
ham, the thirtieth day of September. 

Identical summons zvere sent out to the two archbishops 
and eighteen bishops, and, with the omission of the last 
paragraph, to seventy abbots. 

SUMMONS OF A BARON TO PARLIAMENT 

(1295) 

The king to his beloved and faithful relative, Edmund, 
Earl of Cornwall, greeting. Because we wish to have a 
consultation and meeting with you and with the rest of the 
principal men of our kingdom, as to provision for remedies 
against the dangers which in these days are threatening our 



THE GROWTH OF LAW 183 

whole kingdom; we command you, strictly enjoining you in 
the fidelity and love in which you are bound to us, that on 
the Lord's day next after the feast of St. Alartin, in the 
approaching winter, you be present in person at Westminster, 
for considering, ordaining and doing along with us and with 
the prelates, and the rest of the principal men and other in- 
habitants of our kingdom, as may be necessary for meeting 
dangers of this kind. 

Witness the king at Canterbury, the first of October. 

Similar summons zvcre scut to seven earls and forty-one 
barons. 

SUMMONS OF REPRESENTATIVES OF SHIRES AND TOWNS TO 

PARLIAMENT 

(1295) 

The king to the sheriff of Northamptonshire. Since we 
intend to have a consultation and meeting with the earls, 
barons and other principal men of our kingdom with regard 
to providing remedies against the dangers which are in these 
days threatening the same kingdom; and on that account 
have commanded them to be with us on the Lord's day next 
after the feast of St. Martin in the approaching winter, at 
Westminster, to consider, ordain, and do as may be necessary 
for the avoidance of these dangers; we strictly require you 
to cause two knights from the aforesaid county, two citizens 
from each city in the same county, and two burgesses from 
each borough, of those who are especially discreet and ca- 
pable of labouring, to be elected without delay, and to cause 
them to come to us at the aforesaid time and place. 

Moreover, the said knights are to have full and sufficient 
power for themselves and for the community of the afore- 
said county, and the said citizens and burgesses for them- 
selves and the communities of the aforesaid cities and bor- 
oughs separately, then and there for doing what shall then 
be ordained according to the common counsel in the premises ; 
so that the aforesaid business shall not remain unfinished in 
any way for defect of this power. And you shall have there 
the names of the knights, citizens and burgesses and this 
writ. 

Witness the king at Canterbury on the third day of Oc- 
tober. 

Identical summons were sent to the sheriffs of each county. 

{Lords'' Report oti the Dignity of a Peer, reprinted by permission. 
~~ ' Trans. E. P. Cheney.) 



l84 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 

82. Confirmation of the Charters 

(25 Edw. I, c. 6, 1297) 

Statutes of the Reahn 

The Magna Charta was a rallying point for all those striving 
for relief from the despotic exercise of the kingly power. Again 
and again were the rights of the people violated, but need and 
fear of the people compelled the re-granting of the rights given 
in the Great Charter. These re-grants took the form of re-issues 
of the Charter, as in the Charter of Henry III., or of confirma- 
tions of its provisions, as the following Confirmation of the 
Charters. 

1. Edward, by the grace of God king of England, lord of 
Ireland, and duke of Aquitaine to all those that shall hear 
or see these present letters, greeting: Know ye, that we to 
the honour of God and of holy church, and to the profit of 
our realm, have granted for us and our heirs that the Charter 
of Liberties and the Charter of the Forest, which were made 
by common assent of all the realm, in the time of King 
Henry our father, shall be kept in every point without breach. 
And we will that the same charters shall be sent under our 
seal as well to our justices of the forest as to others, and to 
all sheriffs of shires, and to all other officers and to all our 
cities throughout the realm, together with our writs, in which 
it shall be contained that they cause the aforesaid charters 
to be published, and declare to the people that we have con- 
firmed them in all points, and that our justices, sheriffs, 
mayors, and other officials which under us have the laws of 
our land to guide, shall allow the said charters pleaded be- 
fore them in judgment in all their points; that is to wit, the 
Great Charter as the common law and the Charter of the 
Forest according to the assize of the forest, for the weal of 
our realm. 

2. And we will that if any judgment be given from hence- 
forth, contrary to the points of the charter aforesaid, by the 
justices or by any other of our officials that hold pleas be- 
fore them, it shall be undone and holden for naught. 

3. And we will that the same charters shall be sent under 
our seal to cathedral churches throughout our realm, there 
to remain, and shall be read before the people twice yearly. 

4. And that all archbishops and bishops shall pronounce 
the sentence of greater excommunication against all those 
that by word, deed, or counsel, do contrary to the aforesaid 
charters, or that in any point break or undo them. And that 
the said courses be twice a year denounced and published by 
the prelates aforesaid. And if the same prelates or any of 



THE GROWTH OF LAW 185 

them be remiss in the denunciation of the said sentences, 
the archbishops of Canterbury and York for the time being, 
as is fitting, shall compel and distrain them to make that 
denunciation in form aforesaid. 

5. And for as much as divers people of our realm are in 
fear that the aids and tasks which they have given to us 
beforetime towards our wars and other business, of their 
own grant and good-will, howsoever they were made, might 
turn to a bondage to them and their heirs, because they 
might be at another time found in the rolls, and so likewise 
the prises taken throughout the realm by our ministers ; we 
have granted for us and our heirs, that we shall not draw 
such aids, tasks, nor prises, into a custom, for anything that 
hath been done heretofore, be it by roll or any other prece- 
dent that may be founden. 

6. Moreover we have granted for us and our heirs, as well 
to archbishops, bishops, abbots, priors, and other folk of 
holy church, as also to earls, barons, and to all the com- 
monalty of the land, that for no business from henceforth 
will we take such manner of aids, tasks, nor prises, but by 
the common consent of the realm, and for the common profit 
thereof, saving the ancient aids and prises due and accus- 
tomed. 

7. And for as much as the more part of the commonalty 
of the realm find themselves sore grieved with the maletote 
of wools, that is to wit, a toll of forty shillings for every 
sack of wool, and have made petition to us to release the 
same; we, at their requests, have clearly released it, and 
have granted for us and our heirs that we shall not take 
such thing or any other w^ithout their common assent and 
good-will, saving to us and our heirs the custom of wools, 
skins, and leather granted before by the commonalty afore- 
said. In witness of which things we have caused these our 
letters to be made patent. Witness Edward, our son, at 
London, the tenth day of October, the five and twentieth 
year of our reign. 

And be it remembered that this same charter in the same 
terms, word for word, was sealed in Flanders under the 
king's great seal, that is to say at Ghent, the fifth day of 
November in the twenty-fifth year of the reign of our afore- 
said lord the king, and sent into England. 

(Edited from Statutes of the Realm, I, 123, 124.) 



186 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

83. Ecclesiastical Sanction of the Confirmation of the Charters 

(1297) 

Book 0/ Rights 

The intimate connection between Church and State in the thir- 
teenth century is well shown by the following selection which 
•furnishes the text of the endorsement by the ecclesiastical au- 
thority of the act of the king. 

In the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy 
Ghost, Amen. Whereas our sovereign lord the King, to the 
honour of God and of holy church, and for the common profit 
of the realm, hath granted for him and his heirs for ever these 
articles abovewritten. We, Robert archbishop of Canter- 
bury, primate. of all England, admonish all those of the realm 
of England once, twice, and thrice — because that shortness 
of time will not suffer more delay, — that all and every of 
them of what estate soever they be, as much as in them is, 
do uphold and maintain these things granted by our sover- 
eign lord the King in all points ; and that they or none of 
them do resist or break, or in any manner hereafter procure, 
counsel, or any ways assent to resist or break them, or go 
about it, by word or deed, openly or privily, by any manner 
of pretence of colour ; and we the foresaid archbishop, by our 
authority in this writing expressed, do excommunicate all 
such, and them from the body of our. Lord Jesus Christ, and 
from all the company of heaven, and from all the sacraments 
of holy church, do dissever. Fiat! Fiat! Amen! 

(Trans. Edgar Taylor in Book 0/ Rights, Lond. 1831. p. 51.) 

84. De Tallagio Non Concedendo 

(25 Edw. I, 1297) 

Statutes of the Realm 

The Statutum de Tallagio non Concedendo was originally an 
unauthorized interpretation of the Confirmatio Chartariim. It 
was not a statute, though afterward cast in that form. Its prin- 
ciples were of such importance in the struggles against illegal 
taxation that it early acquired by sufferance a place in the collec- 
tions of laws. In 1628 it was quoted as a statute in the Petition 
of Right (which embodied its principles), and in 1637 it was 
judicially declared a statute. 

"a statute concerning certain liberties granted by 
the king to his commons" 

I. No tallage or aid shall be imposed or levied by us or our 
heirs in our realm, without the good will and assent of the 
archbishops, bishops, and other prelates, earls, barons, 
knights, burgesses, and other freemen of the land. 



THE GROWTH OF LAW 187 

2. No officer of ours, or of our heirs, shall take corn, wool, 
leather, or any other goods, of any manner of person, with- 
out the good will and assent of the party to whom the goods 
belonged. 

3. Nothing from henceforth shall be taken of sacks of wool 
in the name or by occasion of niale-tolt. 

4. Also we will and grant for us and our heirs, that all 
clerks and laymen, of our realm, shall have all their laws, 
liberties, and free customs, as freely and wholly as they have 
used to have the same at any time when they had them best 
and most fully: And if any statutes have been made by us or 
our ancestors, or any customs brought in contrary to them, 
or to any manner of article contained in this present charter, 
we will and grant, that such manner of statutes and customs 
shall be void and frustrate for evermore. 

5. Pardon granted to certain offenders. 

6. And for the more assurance of this thing, we will and 
grant for ourselves and our heirs, that all archbishops and 
bishops of England, for ever having seen and read this pres- 
ent charter in their cathedral churches, twice in a year, shall 
publicly excommunicate for ever, and upon the reading 
thereof in every of the parish churches of their dioceses, 
shall openly denounce excommunication against all those 
that in any way willingly do or procure to be done any thing 
contrary to the tenor, force, and effect of this present charter 
in any article. 

In witness whereof to this present charter, our seal is put 
together with the seals of the archbishops, bishops, earls, 
barons, and others ; who voluntarily have sworn that, as 
much as in them is, they will observe the tenor of this present 
charter in all and singular its articles, and to its observance 
will afford their faithful aid and counsel for evermore. 

(Ed. from Statutes of the Realm, I, 125.) 

85. The Law of Mortmain 

Statutes of the Realm 

The Statute of Mortmain was the first step taken by Ed- 
ward I. in the assertion of the right of the State to control the 
Church when civil interests were affected by ecclesiastical action. 
It "stands to ecclesiastical tenures in the same position that the 
statute Quia Emptorcs stands to lay tenures." The statute given 
is the first, and is typical of a series, all aimed at the practice 
by which lands were transferred to the Church and removed 
from the control of lords who claimed the feudal rights, and 
from the possession of those to whom the lands would naturally 
have descended. 



i88 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

STATUTUM DE RELIGIOSIS 

(7 Edw. I, i^jg) 

Where of late it was provided, that religious men should 
not enter into the fees of any without licence and will of the 
chief lords, of whom such fees be holden immediately; and 
afterwards religious men have notwithstanding entered as 
well into their own fees, as into the fees of other men, ap- 
propriating and buying them, and sometime receiving them of 
the gift of others, whereby the services that are due of such 
fees, and which at the beginning were provided for defence 
of the realm, are wrongfully withdrawn, and the chief lords 
do lease their eschats of the same: We therefore, to the 
profit of our realm, intending to provide convenient remedy, 
by the advice of our prelates, earls, [barons,] and other our 
lieges, being of our council, have provided, established, and 
ordained, that no person, religious or other, whatsoever he 
be, do presume to buy or sell any lands or tenements, or under 
the colour of gift or lease, or by reason of any other title, 
whatsoever it be, to receive from any man, or by any other 
craft or device do appropriate to himself, lands or tenements, 
under pain of forfeiture of the same, whereby such lands or 
tenements may anywise come into Mortmain. 

We have provided also, that if any person, religious or 
other, do presume either by craft or device to offend against 
this statute, it shall be lawful to us, and other immediate 
chief lords of the fee so aliened, to enter therein within a 
year from the time of such alienation, and to hold it in fee 
and inheritance. And if the immediate chief lord be negli- 
gent, and will not enter into such fee within the year, then it 
shall be lawful to the next [immediate] chief lord of the 
same fee to enter into the same within half a year next fol- 
lowing, and to hold it as before is said; and so every [im- 
mediate] chief lord may enter into such fee, if the next [im- 
mediate] lord be negligent in entering into the same fee, as 
is aforesaid. And if all such chief lords of such fees, being 
of full age, within the four seas, and out of prison, be negli- 
gent or slack in this behalf, we immediately after the [year] 
accomplished, from the time that such purchases, gifts, or 
other appropriations happen to be made, shall take such lands 
and tenements into our hands, and shall infeoff other therein, 
by certain services to be therefore done for the same to us 
for the defence of our realm; saving to the chief lords of the 
same fees their words and eschats, and other services to 
them due and accustomed. 



THE GROWTH OF LAW 189 

And therefore we command you, that ye cause the foresaid 
statute to be read before you, and from henceforth to be kept 
firmly and observed. Witness my self at Westminster the 
[fifteenth] day of November, the seventh year of our reign. 

(Ed. from Statutes of the Realm, I, 51.) 

86. Freedom of Parliament 

(7 Edw. I., 1:79) 

Book 0/ Rights 

This provision is in line with the many designed to protect the 
commonalty when exercising their political rightss. From the 
days of the Saxon Kings this protection was constant in theory 
and usually in practice. 

To all Parliaments and Treatises men shall come without 
Force and Arms. 

Edward by the grace of God, King of England, Lord of 
Ireland, and Duke of Aquitaine; to the justices of his bench 
sendeth greeting. Whereas of late before certain persons 
deputed to treat upon sundry debates had between us and 
certain great men of our realm, amongst other things it was 
accorded, in our next parliament after, provision should be 
made by us and the common assent of the prelates, earls, and 
barons, that in all parliaments, treatises, and other assemblies 
which should be made in the realm of England for ever, 
every man shall come without all force and armour, well and 
peaceably to the honour of us and the peace of our realm. 
And now in our next parliament at Westminster after the 
said treatise, the prelates, earls, barons, and the commonalty 
of our realm, there assembled to take advice of this business, 
have said to us that it belongeth and our part is, through our 
royal seigniory, straightly to prohibit force of armour and all 
other force against our peace, at all times when it shall please 
us, and to punish them which shall do contrary, according 
to our laws and usages of our realm ; and hereunto they are 
bound to aid us as their sovereign lord at all seasons when 
need shall be. We command you, that ye cause these things 
to be read afore you in the said bench, and there to be en- 
rolled. 

{Book 0/ Rights, ed. cit., p. 59. 

87. Taxation of Religious Houses 

(35 Edw. I., 1306-7) 

Statutes of the Realm 

The statute Dc Asporfatis Religiosonim was the first of a 
series of anti-papal statutes which extended even beyond the 
clo. e of the Stuart period. The texts of the most important of 



I90 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

these have been translated and are prmted in full (Nos. 85, 
90, 92, 93, 107, 108, III), that the student may himself trace the 
claim of ecclesiastical independence put forward by English 
kings. The object of the following statute was to prevent the 
taxation of religious houses by non-resident superiors. 

STATUTUM DE ASPORTATIS RELIGIOSORUM 

In the Parliament held at Carlisle, on the Octave of St. Hilary 

(a.d. 1306-7) 

Of late it came to the knowledge of our lord the king, by 
the grievous complaint of the honourable persons, lords, and 
other noblemen of his realm, that whereas monasteries, pri- 
ories, and other religious houses had been founded to the 
honour and glory of God, and the advancement of the Holy 
Church, by the king and his progenitors, and by the said 
noblemen and their ancestors ; and a very great portion of 
lands and tenements had been given to them by the said 
monasteries, priories, and houses, and the religious men 
serving God in them, to the intent that as well clerks as lay- 
men might be admitted in such monasteries and religious 
houses, according to their sufficient ability, and that sick 
and feeble men might be maintained, hospitality, almsgiving, 
and other charitable deeds might be exercised and done and 
in them, prayers might be said for the souls of the said 
founders and their heirs; the abbots, priors, and governors 
of the said houses, and certain aliens their superiors, as 
the abbots and priors of the orders of Cluniacenses, Cister- 
cienses, and Premonstraienses, and of St. Augustine, and 
St. Benedict, and many more of other religion and order, 
of late, have appointed to be made and at their own pleasure 
ordained divers unwonted, heavy and importable tallages, 
payments, and impositions upon every of the said monas- 
teries and houses in subjection unto them in England, Ire- 
land, Scotland, and Wales, without the privity of our lord 
the king and his nobility, contrary to the laws and customs 
of the said realm; whereby it happens that numbers of 
religious persons, and other servants in the said houses and 
other religious places being oppressed by such tallages, pay- 
ments, and impositions, the service of God is diminished, 
and alms are withdrawn from the poor, the sick, and feeble, 
and the healths of the living and the souls of the dead be 
miserably defrauded, hospitality, almsgiving, and other 
deeds of charity, do cease ; and so that which in times past 
was given to pious uses, and to the increase of the service 



THE GROWTH OF LAW 191 

of God, or to charity, is now converted to an evil payment: 
From whence, beside what is before mentioned, there 
groweth great scandal to the people, and infinite losses are 
well known to have ensued, to the disheritance of the said 
founders and their heirs, and are yet likely to ensue, unless 
speedy and sufficient remedy be provided to redress so many 
and grievous detriments : 

Our said lord the king, therefore, considering that it would 
be very prejudicial to him and his people if he should any 
longer suffer such great losses and injuries to be winked at, 
and thereupon being willing to maintain and defend the 
monasteries, priories, and other religious houses erected in 
his kingdom, and in the lands subject to his dominion, ac- 
cording to the will and pious wishes of the founders, and 
from henceforth to provide sufficient remedy to reform such 
oppressions, as he is bound, by the counsel of his earls, 
barons, great men, and other the nobles and the commonalty 
of his realm, in his parliament holden at Westminster, on the 
Sunday next after the feast of St. Matthias the Apostle, in 
the three-and-thirtieth year of his reign, ordained and en- 
acted as follows : 

"That no abbot, prior, master, warden (nor any other 
religious person, of whatsoever condition, state, or religion 
he be, appointed under his power or jurisdiction,) shall by 
himself, or by merchants or others, secretly or openly, by any 
art or device, carry or send, or by any means cause to be 
carried, any tax imposed by their superiors, abbots, priors, 
masters or wardens of religious houses or places, or in any 
way assessed among themselves, out of his kingdom and 
dominion, under the name of a rent, tallage, tribute, or any 
kind of imposition, or otherwise in the name of exchange, 
sale, loan, or other contract howsoever it may be termed; 
neither shall himself depart into any other country for visi- 
tation, or, upon any other colour, by that means to carry the 
goods of their monasteries and houses out of the kingdom 
and dominion aforesaid. And if any presume to offend this 
present statute, he shall be grievously punished according to 
the quality of his offence, and according to his contempt of 
the king's prohibition. 

"Moreover, our said lord the king doth inhibit all and sin- 
gular abbots, priors, masters and governors of religious 
houses and places, being aliens, to whose authority, subjec- 
tion, and obedience, the houses of the same orders being in 
his kingdom and dominion be subject, that they do not at any 



192 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

time hereafter impose, or by any means cause to be assessed, 
any tallages, payments, impositions, tributes, or other bur- 
dens whatsoever, upon any of the monasteries, priories, or 
other religious houses so as aforesaid in subjection unto 
them ; and this upon forfeiture of all that they obtain in their 
power, and can forfeit in future. 

"And further, our lord the king hath ordained and estab- 
lished, that the abbots of the orders of Cistercienses and 
Premonstratenses, and other religious orders, whose seal 
hath heretofore been used to remain only in the custody of 
the abbot, and not of the convent, shall hereafter have a com- 
mon seal, and shall deposit the same in the custody of the 
prior of the monastery or house, and four of the most worthy 
and discreet men of the convent of the same house, to be 
kept under the private seal of the abbot of the same house; 
so that the abbot or prior of the house which he doth govern, 
shall not be able of himself to confirm any contract or obliga- 
tion, as heretofore he hath been used to do. And if it for- 
tune hereafter that any writings obligatory of donations, 
purchases, sales, alienations, or of any other contracts, be 
found sealed with any other seal than such a common seal, 
kept as is aforesaid, they shall be adjudged void and of no 
force in law. 

"But it is not the meaning of our lord the king to exclude 
the abbots, priors, and other religious aliens, by the ordinance 
and statutes aforesaid, from executing their office of visita- 
tion in his kingdom and dominion ; but that they may visit 
at their pleasure, by themselves or others, the monasteries 
and other places in his kingdom and dominion aforesaid in 
subjection unto them, according to the duty of their office, 
in those things only that belong to the regular observance 
and the discipline of their order. Provided, that they which 
shall execute this office of visitation, shall carry, or cause 
to be carried out of the kingdom and dominion aforesaid, 
none of the goods or things of such monasteries, priories, and 
houses, saving only their reasonable and competent charges. 

And though the pronouncing and publication of the ordi- 
nance and statutes aforesaid was stayed in suspense, from 
the parliament last passed, until this present parliament 
holden at Carlisle in the octaves of Saint Hilary, in the 
five-and-thirtieth year of the reign of our said lord King 
Edward, for certain causes, and to the intent they might 
proceed with greater deliberation and advice; our lord the 
king, after full deliberation and conference had with the 



THE GROWTH OF LAW 193 

earls, barons, lords, and other the nobles and the commonalty 
of his realm, touching the premisses, by their unanimous 
consent and agreement hath ordained and enacted, that the 
ordinance and statutes aforesaid, under the manner, form, 
and conditions aforesaid, from the first day of May next 
ensuing, shall thenceforth be inviolably observed and in force 
for ever, and the offenders of them shall thereafter be pun- 
ished as is aforesaid. 

(Edited from Statutes of the Realm, I, 150.) 

88. The Statute of "Quia Emptores" 

(18 Euw. I., 1289-90) 

Statutes at Large 

The feudal lord enjoyed many profitable rights in the property 
held by another under him. He obtained certain sums from the 
heir who was of full age at the death of his father, and also 
profits from the estates of minors and from their marriages. 
Not only was his ransom paid, if he were taken prisoner, but 
when his son became a knight or his eldest daughter married, 
the expenses of the ceremonies were borne by his tenants. Be- 
sides all this, on certain contingencies the entire estate of his 
vassals became his. Prior to the eighteenth year of the reign 
of Edward I., these rights had been seriously impaired by the 
practice of subinfeudation, or subdivision of holdings. To ex- 
emplify this, let us suppose that A. held lands of B.. and owed him 
the above-mentioned rights. If A. sold part of his lands to C, 
the latter would owe rights to xA.., and not to B. Thus B. would 
be deprived of his rights over the lands sold to C. This was a 
direct loss to the lord, and the statute of Quia Emptorcs was 
passed to prevent its occurrence. By the provisions of this en- 
actment, the transfer could still be made, but C. would hold of 
B. instead of A., and would owe the rio:hts of the land to the 
former. 

THE STATUTE OF WESTMINSTER THE THIRD: 
or QUIA EMPTORES TERRARUM 

Cap. I 

Purchasers shall hold of the chief lord, and not of the 

Feoffor 

Forasmuch as purchasers of lands and tenements of the 
fees of great men and others, have many times heretofore 
entered into their fees, to the prejudice of the lords, the free- 
holders of such great men and others having sold such lands 
and tenements to be holden in fee by such purchasers and 
their heirs, of the feoffors, and not of the chief lords of the 
fees, whereby the same chief lords have many times lost their 
escheats, marriages, and wardships of lands and tenements 



194 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

belonging to their fees; which thing seemed very hard and 
extreme unto those great men and other lords, and moreover 
in this case manifest disheritance : Our lord the king, in his 
parliament at Westminster, after Easter, the eighteenth year 
of his reign, that is to wit, in the quinzime of Saint John 
Baptist, at the instance of the great men of his realm, hath 
granted, provided, and ordained, that from henceforth it 
shall be lawful to every freeman to sell at his own pleasure 
his lands and tenements, or part thereof : so nevertheless that 
the feoffee shall hold the same lands or tenements of the 
same chief lord of the fee, and by the same services and cus- 
toms as his feoffor held them before. 

Cap. II 

// a Tenant sell Part of his Land, the Services shall be 

apportioned 

And if he sell any part of such his lands or tenements to 
any, the feoffee shall hold that immediately of the chief lord, 
and shall be forthwith charged with so much service as per- 
taineth, or ought to pertain to the said chief lord for such 
part, according to the quantity of the land or tenement so 
sold. And so in this case for the same part of the service 
shall remain to the lord, to be taken by the hands of the 
feoffee, for the which he ought to be attendant and answer- 
able to the same chief lord, according to the quantity of the 
land or tenement sold, for the parcel of the service so due. 

Cap. Ill 

No such Feoffment shall be made to assure Land in 

Mortmain 

And it is to be understood, that by the said sales or pur- 
chases of lands or tenements or any part thereof, such lands 
or tenements shall in no wise come into Mortmain, either in 
part or in whole, any way by craft or engine, contrary to 
the form of the statute made thereupon of late. And it is 
to be understood, that this statute extendeth only to lands to 
be holden in fee simple; and that it extendeth to the time 
coming, and it shall begin to take effect at the feast of Saint 
Andrew the Apostle next coming. 

Given the eighteenth year of the reign of King Edward, 
son of King Henry. 

(Edited from Statutes at Large, ed. T. D. Tomlins, Lond., 1811. I, 310.) 



THE GROWTH OF LAW 19S 

8g. Coronation Oath of Edward II. 

Statutes of the Realm 

The oath of Edward II. Is Interesting in that it contains the 
completed fourfold division which was for centuries to mark the 
promise of the king upon assuming office. Compare the corona- 
tion oaths of William I. (No. 45) and of James I. (No. 144). 

CORONATION OATH OF EDWARD II. 

[Archbishop.'] Sire, will you grant and observe, and by 
your oath confirm to the people of England the laws and 
customs granted to them by the ancient kings of England, 
your predecessors, just and devoted to God; and especially 
the laws and customs and franchises granted to the clergy 
and to the people by the glorious king, Saint Edward, your 
predecessor ? 

[King.'] I grant them and promise them. 

[Archbishop.] Sire, will you keep toward God and holy 
church, and clergy and people entire peace and concord in 
God, according to your power? 

[King.] I will keep them. 

[Archbishop.] Sire, will you cause to be made in all your 
judgments equal and right justice and judgment, in mercy 
and truth, according to your power? 

[King.] I will do it. 

[Archbishop.] Sire, do you grant that the just laws and 
customs will be observed which the commonalty of your 
realm have chosen, and do you promise to protect and en- 
force them to the honour of God, according to your power? 

[King.] 1 grant and promise it. 

(Ed. from Statutes of the Realm, I, i68.) 

90. A Statute of Provisors 

(25 Edw. Ill, s. 5, c. 22, 1352) 

Statutes of the Realm 

The Statute Dc Asportatis Rcligiosorum, passed in 1306-7, 
was followed by a series of anti-papal enactments, the first of 
which to become effective, the Statute of Provisors, Is given 
below. 



Also because that some do purchase at the court of Rome 
provisions to have abbeys and priories in England, in destruc- 
tion of the realm, and of holy religion ; it is accorded and as- 
sented, that every man that purchaseth such provisions of 



196 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

abbeys or priories, that he and his executors and procurators 
which do sue and make execution of such provisions, shall be 
out of the protection of our lord the king; and that a man 
may do with him as an enemy of the king and the realm ; 
and he that doth anything against such provisors in body or 
in goods, or in other possessions, shall be excused against 
all people, and shall never be impeached nor grieved for the 
same at any man's suit. 

(Ed. from Statutes of the Realm, I, 323, 324.) 

91. First Statute of Treasons 

(25 Edw. III., St. 5, c. 2, 1352) 

Statutes of the Realm 

The crime of treason has always been visited by most severe 
punishment, but prior to the twenty-fifth year of the reign of 
Edward II. these punishments were not fixed by statute. Neither 
was the crime of treason accurately defined and determined. 
The repeated demand that this crime should be defined and 
limits set to its punishment passed unheeded until the following 
statute was passed during the reign of Edward III. The seven 
heads of treason enumerated by this Act formed the basis of all 
subsequent legislation on the subject. 

A STATUTE OF WESTMINSTER 

Cap. II 

A Declaration which Offences shall be adjudged Treason. 

Also, whereas divers opinions have been before this time ; 
in what case treason shall be said, and in what not; the king 
at the request of the lords and of the commons, hath made 
the declaration following, that is to say; when a man doth 
compass or imagine the death of our lord the king; or of our 
lady his queen, or of their eldest son and heir; or if a man 
do violate the king's companion, or the king's eldest daughter 
unmarried, or the wife of the king's eldest son and heir : or 
if a man do levy war against our said lord the king in his 
realm or be adherent to the enemies of our lord the king in 
his realm, giving to them aid and comfort in the realm, or 
elsewhere; and thereof be probably attainted of open deed 
by the people of their condition. And if a man counterfeit 
the king's great or privy seal, or his money; and if a man 
bring false money into this realm, counterfeit to the money 
of England, as the money called Liishhurgh, or other like to 
the said money of England, knowing the money to be false, 
to merchandise, or make payment, in deceit of our said lord 
the king and of his people: And if a man slay the chancellor, 



THE GROWTH OF LAW 197 

treasurer, or the king's justices of the one bench or the other, 
justices in eyre, or of assise and all other justices assigned 
to hear and determine, being in their places, doing their 
offices. And it is to be understood, that in the cases above 
rehearsed, that ought to be judged treason which extends to 
our lord the king, and his royal majesty: And of such manner 
of treason the forfeiture of the escheats pertain to our sov- 
ereign lord the king as well of the lands and tenements 
holden of other as of himself. 

And moreover there is another manner of treason, that is 
to say, when a servant slayeth his master, or a wife slayeth 
her husband, or when a man, secular or religious, slayeth his 
prelate, to whom he oweth faith and obedience; and such 
manner of treason giveth forfeiture of the escheats to every 
lord of his own fee. 

And because many other cases of like treason, may happen 
in time to come, which a man cannot think or declare at 
this present time ; It is accorded, that if any other case, 
supposed treason, which is not above specified, doth happen 
anew before any justices, the justices shall tarry without 
going to judgment of treason, till the case be showed before 
the king and his parliament, and it be declared whether it 
ought to be judged treason or other felony. 

And if perchance any man of this realm ride armed, covert- 
ly or secretly,with men of arms against any other, to slay him, 
or rob him, or to take and retain him till he hath made fine 
or ransom for to have his deliverance, it is not the mind of 
the king nor his council, that in such case it shall be judged 
treason; but it shall be judged felony or trespas, according 
to the law of the land of old time used, and according as the 
case requireth. And if in such case, or other like, before 
this time any justice have judged treason, and for this cause 
the lands and tenements have comen into the king's hands as 
forfeit, the chief lords of the fee shall have their escheats 
of the tenements holden of them, whether that the same tene- 
ments be in the king's hands, or in others, by gift or in other 
manner. 

Saving always to our lord the king the year, and the 
waste and the other forfeitures of chattels, which pertain 
to him in the cases above named: and that Writs of Scire 
facias be granted in such case against the land-tenants with- 
out other original, and without allowing the king's protec- 
tion in the said suit; and that of the lands which be in the 
king's hands, Writs be granted to the sheriffs of the coun- 



198 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

ties where the lands be, to deliver them out of the king's 
hands without delay. 

(Ed. from Statutes of the Realm, I, 320, 321.) 

92. Second Statute of Provisors 

(27 Edw. III., s. I, c. 2, 1353) 

Statutes of the Realm 

The Statute of Provisors of 1351 was followed by that of 
1353- This latter had the same special purposes of preventing 
the papal court from compelling the attendance of Englishmen 
in those cases where that court claimed jurisdiction and of 
strengthening the power of the royal courts. The opening words 
of the statute show the demand which caused its promulgation. 

A STATUTE OF PROVISORS 

Cap. I - 

Praemunire for suing in a Foreign Realm, or Impeaching 
of Judgment given 

First, because it is showed to our said lord the king, by the 
grievous and clamorous complaints' of the great men and 
commons aforesaid, how that divers of the people be, and 
have been drawn out of the realm to answer of things, 
whereof the cognizance pertaineth to the king's Court; and 
also that the judgments given in the same court be im- 
peached in another's court, in prejudice and disherison of 
our lord the king, and of his crown, and of all the people of 
his said realm, and to the undoing and destruction of the 
common law of the same realm at all times used: Where- 
upon, good deliberation being had with the great men and 
other of his said council, it is assented and accorded by our 
said lord the king, and the great men and commons afore- 
said, that all the people of the king's ligeance, of what con- 
dition soever they may be, which shall draw any out of the 
realm, in plea whereof the cognizance pertaineth to the 
king's court, or of things whereof judgments be given in the 
king's court, or which do sue in the court of any other, to 
defeat or impeach the judgments given in the king's court, 
shall have a day, containing the space of two months, by 
warning to be made to them in the place where the pos- 
sessions be, which be in debate, or otherwise where they 
have lands or other possessions, by the sheriff or other the 
king's minister, to appear before the king and his council, 
or in his chancery, or before the king's justices in his courts 
of the one bench or the other, or before other the king's 
justices which to the same shall be deputed, to answer in 



THE GROWTH OF LAW 199 

their proper person to the king, of the contempt done in 
this behalf. And if they come not at the said day in their 
proper person to be at the law, they, their procurators, 
attornies, executors, notaries, and maintainers, shall from 
that day forth be put out of the king's protection, and their 
lands, goods, and chattels forfeit to the king, and their 
bodies, wheresoever they may be found, shall be taken and 
imprisoned, and ransomed at the king's will : And there- 
upon a writ shall be made to take them by their bodies, and 
to seize their lands, goods, and possessions, into the king's 
hands ; and if it be returned, that they be not found, they 
shall be put in exigent, and outlawed. 

Provided always, that whenever they come at any time 
before they be outlawed, and will yield them to the king's 
prison, to be judged by the law, and to receive that which 
the court shall award in this behalf, that they shall be thereto 
received; the forfeiture of lands, goods, and chattels abiding 
in force, if they do not yield them within the said two 
months, as afore is said. 

(Ed. from Statutes of the Reahn, I, 329, 330) 

93. The Great Statute of Praemunire 

(16 Rich. II., 1393) 

Statutes of the Reahn 

The contest between pope and king, begun in the reign of 
Edward I. and continued through successive reigns by means of 
the anti-papal statutes, was brought to a close by the action of 
Pope Boniface IV. in 1391. This prelate declared Acts of Par- 
liament contravening papal rights to be void, and he denied the 
right of the Crown to present to benefices. The people of Eng- 
land rallied to the support of the cause of the king, and in the 
''Great Statute of Praemunire" (16 Rich. II., c. 5, 1392) every 
estate of the realm pledged its support to Richard II. This 
Statute of Praemunire was the most effective of the so-called 
anti-papal statutes. 

Also whereas, the Commons of the realm in this present 
Parliament have showed to our redoubted lord the king, 
grievously complaining, that whereas our said lord the king 
and all his liege people ought of right and of old were wont 
to sue in the king's court, to recover their presentations to 
churches, prebends, and other benefices of holy church to the 
which they had right to present, the cognizance of plea of 
which presentment belongeth only to the king's court of the 
old right of his crown, used and approved in the time of all 
his progenitors, kings of England; and when judgment is 
given in the said court upon such a plea and presentment, the 



200 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

archbishops, bishops, and other spiritual persons who have 
institution of such benefices within their jurisdiction be 
bound, and have made execution of such judgments by the 
king's commandments, of all the time aforesaid without in- 
terruption, for a lay person cannot make such execution, 
and also be bound of right to make execution of many other 
of the king's commandments, of which right the crown of 
England hath been peaceably seized, as well in the time of 
our lord the king that now is, as in the time of all his pro- 
genitors till this day. 

But now of late divers processes be made by the holy 
father, the Pope, and censures of excommunication upon cer- 
tain bishops of England, and because they had made execu- 
tion of such commandments, in open disherison of the said 
crown and destruction of the regalty of our said lord the 
king, his law, and all his realm, if remedy be not provided. 
And also it is said and a common clamour is made that the 
said holy father, the Pope, hath ordained and purposed to 
translate some prelates of the said realm, some out of the 
realm, and some from one bishopric into another within the 
said realm, without the assent and knowledge of our lord the 
king, and without the assent of the prelate who should be so 
translated, which prelates be very profitable and necessary 
to our said lord the king, and to all his realm; by which 
translations, if they should be suffered, the statutes of the 
realm would be defeated and made void; and his wise lieges 
of his council, without his assent and against his will carried 
away and removed out of his realm and the substance and 
treasure of the realm would be carried away, and so the said 
realm destitute as well of council as of substance, to the 
final destruction of the said realm ; and the crown of Eng- 
land which hath been so free at all times that it hath not 
been in subjection to earthly sovereign, but is immediately 
subject to God in all things touching the regalty of the same 
crown, and to none other, would be submitted to the Pope, 
and the laws and statutes of the realm by him defeated and 
annulled at his will, in perpetual destruction of the sover- 
eignty of the king our lord, his crown, his regalty, and of all 
his realm, which God forbid. 

And moreover, the Commons aforesaid say, that the said 
things so attempted be clearly against the king's crown and 
his regalty, used and approved in the time of all his pro- 
genitors ; wherefore, they and all the liege commons of the 
said realm will stand with our said lord the king, and his 



THE GROWTH OF LAW 201 

said crown and his regalty, in the cases aforesaid, and in all 
other cases attempted against him, his crown, and his regalty 
in all points, to live and to die ; and moreover, they prayed 
our said lord the king, and required him, by way of justice, 
that he would examine all the lords in Parliament, as well 
spiritual as temporal severally, and all the estates of the 
Parliament, how^ they think of the cases aforesaid, wdiich be 
so openly against the king's crown, and in derogation of his 
regalty, and how they will stand in the same cases with our 
lord the king in upholding tke rights of the said crown and 
regalty. Whereupon, the lords temporal so demanded have 
answered every one by himself, that the cases aforesaid be 
clearly in derogation of the king's crowai and of his regalty, 
as is notoriously, and hath been of all time known, and that 
they will stand with the same crown and regalty, in these 
cases specially, and in all other cases w^hich shall be at- 
tempted against the said crown and regalty in all points, 
with all their power. 

And, moreover, it was demanded of the lords spiritual 
there being and the procurators of others, being absent, their 
advice and \\\\\ in these cases ; which lords, that is to say, 
the archbishops, bishops, and other prelates, being in the said 
Parliament severally examined, making -protestations that 
it is not their intention to deny nor to affirm that our holy 
father the Pope may not excommunicate bishops and that 
he may not make translations of prelates according to the 
law of holy church ; answered and said, that if any executions 
of processes made in the king's court, as before, be made by 
any, and censures of excommunications be made against any 
bishops of England, or any other of the king's liege people, 
for that they have made execution of such commandments, 
and that if any executions of such translations be made of 
any prelates of the same realm, which prelates be very 
profitable and necessary to our said lord the king, and to 
his said realm, or that his w^ise lieges of his council, without 
his assent and against his will, be removed and carried out 
of the realm, so that the substance and treasure of the realm 
may be destroyed, that the same is against the king and his 
crown, as is contained in the petition before named. And 
likewise the said procurators, every one by himself examined 
upon the said matters, have answered and said, in the name 
and for their lords, as the said bishops have said and an- 
'swered; and that the said lords spiritual will and ought to 
stand with our lord the king in these cases loyally in main- 



202 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

tenance of his crown, and in all other cases touching his 
crown and regalty, as they are bound by their allegiance. 
Whereupon, our said lord the king, with the assent afore- 
said, and at the request of his said Commons, hath ordained 
and established; that if any do purchase or pursue or cause 
to be purchased or pursued in the court of Rome or else- 
where any such translations, processes, and sentences of 
excommunications, bulls, instruments, or any other thing 
whatsoever which touches our lord the king, against him, 
his crown and regalty, or his realm, as is aforesaid, and 
those who bring the same within the realm, or receive them, 
or make thereof notification, or any other execution what- 
soever, within the said realm or without; that they, their 
notaries, procurators, maintainers, abbetors, favorers, and 
counsellors, shall be put out of the protection of our said 
lord the king, and their lands and tenements, goods and 
chattels, shall be forfeited to our lord the king; and that 
they shall be attached by their bodies, if they may be found, 
and brought before the king and his council, there to an- 
swer to the cases aforesaid, or that process be made against 
them by praemunire facias, in manner as it is ordained in 
other statutes of provisors and others who sue in the court 
of any other, in derogation of the regalty of our lord the 
king. 

(Ed. from StaUites of the Realm, II, 84.) 



CHAPTER XII 

THE BLACK DEATH 



94. Spread of the Plague 

Knighto7i 

In the fourteenth century England had entered upon an era 
of progress. This was brought to an abrupt close by the 
scourge known to history as the Black Death. This pestilence 
swept away half of the entire population of the country. Its 
force was most severely expended upon the poor, whose suffer- 
ings were so great as to drive them well-nigh to desperation. 
Yet neither did the Death spare the rich. It invaded the royal 
palace, and the king's daughter fell a victim ; it entered the 
cathedral town of Canterbury, and in one year three archbishops 
died. The Black Death had more than physical results ; it led 
to political disturbances, it caused great agrarian changes, and it 
even impared the work of the Church by decimating its priest- 
hood and giving rise to murmurs against its teachings. 

Then the grievous plague penetrated the sea-coasts from 
Southampton, and came to Bristol, and there almost the 
whole strength of the tov^n died, struck as it were by sudden 
death; for there were few who kept their beds more than 
three days, or two days, or half a day; and after this the 
fell death broke forth on every side with the course of the 
sun. There died at Leicester in the small parish of S. 
Leonard more than 380; in the parish of Holy Cross more 
than 400; in the parish of S. Margaret of Leicester more 
than 700; and so in each parish a great number. Then the 
bishop of Lincoln sent through the whole bishopric, and 
gave general power to all and every priest, both regular and 
secular, to hear confessions, and absolve with entire and 
full episcopal authority except in matters of debt, in which 
case the dying man, if he could, should pay the debt while 
he lived, or others should certainly fulfil that duty from his 
property after his death. Likewise, the pope granted full 
remission of all sins to whoever was absolved in peril of 
death, and granted that this power should last till next 
Easter, and everyone could choose a confessor at his will, 

203 



204 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

In the same year there was a great plague of sheep every- 
where in the realm, so that in one place there died in one 
pasturage more than 5,000 sheep, and so rotted that neither 
beast nor bird would touch them. And there were small 
prices for everything on account of the fear of death. For 
there were very few who cared about riches or anything 
else. For a man could have a horse, which before was 
worth 40s., for 6s. 8., a fat ox for 4s., a cow for I2d., a 
heifer for 6d., a fat wether for 4d., a sheep for 3d., a lamb 
for 2d., a big pig for 5d., a stone of wool for 9d. Sheep 
and cattle went wandering over fields and through crops, 
and there was no one to go and drive or gather them, so 
that the number cannot be reckoned which perished in the 
ditches in every district, for lack of herdsmen ; for there 
was such a lack of servants that no one knew what he ought 
to do. In the following autumn no one could get a reaper 
for less than 8d. with his food, a mower for less than I2d. 
with his food. Wherefore many crops perished in the fields 
for want of some one to gather them; but in the pestilence 
year, as is above said of other things, there was such abun- 
dance of all kinds of corn that no one much troubled about it. 
The Scots, hearing of the cruel pestilence of the English, 
believed it had come to them from the avenging hand of 
God, and — as it was commonly reported in England — took 
for their oath when they wanted to swear: "By the foul 
death of England." But when the Scots, believing that the 
English were under the shadow of the dread vengeance of 
God, came together in the forest of Selkirk, with purpose 
to invade the whole realm of England, the fell mortality 
came upon them, and the sudden and awful cruelty of death 
winnowed them, so that about 5,000 died in a short time. 
Then the rest, some feeble, some strong, determined to re- 
turn home, but the English followed and overtook them and 
killed many of them. 

Master Thomas of Bradwardine was consecrated by the 
pope archbishop of Canterbury, and when he returned to 
England he came to London, but within two days was dead. 
He was famous beyond all other clerks in the whole of 
Christendom, especially in theology, but likewise in the 
other liberal sciences. At the same time priests were in 
such poverty everywhere that many churches were widowed 
and lacking the divine offices, masses, mattins, vespers, 
sacraments, and other rites. A man could scarcely get a 
chaplain under £10 or 10 marks to minister to a church. And 



THE BLACK DEATH 205 

when a man could get a chaplain for 5 or 4 marks or even 
for 2 marks with his food when there was an abundance of 
priests before the pestilence, there was scarcely anyone now 
who was willing to accept a vicarage for £20 or 20 marks; 
but within a short time a very great multitude of those 
whose wives had died in the pestilence flocked into orders, 
of whom many were illiterate and little more than laymen, 
except so far as they knew how to read although they could 
not understand. 

Meanwhile the king sent proclamation into all the coun- 
ties that reapers and other labourers should not take more 
than they had been accustomed to take, under the penalty 
appointed by statute. But the labourers were so lifted up 
and obstinate that they would not listen to the king's com- 
mand, but if anyone wished to have them he had to give 
them what they wanted, and either lose his fruit and crops, 
or satisfy the lofty and covetous wishes of the workmen. 
And when it was known to the king that they had not 
observed his command, and had given greater wages to the 
labourers, he levied heavy fines upon abbots, priors, knights, 
greater and lesser, and other great folk and small folk of 
the realm, of some lOOs., of some 40s., of some 20s., from 
each according to what he could give. He took from each, 
carucate of the realm 20s., and, notwithstanding this, a 
fifteenth. And afterwards the king had many labourers 
arrested, and sent them to prison ; many withdrew them- 
selves and went into the forests and woods ; and those who 
were taken were heavily fined. Their ringleaders were 
made to swear that they would not take daily wages beyond 
the ancient custom, and then were freed from prison. And 
in like manner was done with the other craftsmen in the 
boroughs and villages . . . After the aforesaid pestilence, 
many buildings, great and small, fell into ruins in every 
city, borough, and village for lack of inhabitants, likewise 
many villages and hamlets became desolate, not a house 
being left in them, all having died who dwelt there ; and it 
was probable that many such villages would never be in- 
habited. In the winter following there was such a want of 
servants in work of all kinds, that one would scarcely be- 
lieve that in times past there had been such a lack . . . And 
so all necessaries became so much dearer that what in times 
past had been worth a penny, was then worth 4d. or 5d. 

Magnates and lesser lords of the realm who had tenants 
made abatements of the rent in order that the tenants should 



2o6 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

not go away on account of the want of servants and the 
general dearness, some half the rent, some more, some less, 
some for two years, some for three, according as they could 
agree with them. Likewise, those who received of their 
tenants daywork throughout the year, as is the practice with 
villeins, had to give them more leisure, and remit such 
works, and either entirely to free them, or give them an 
easier tenure at a small rent, so that the homes should not 
be everywhere irrecoverably ruined, and the land everywhere 
remain entirely uncultivated. 

(From Edward III and his Wars, ed. W. J. Ashley, Lond. 1887. p. 122.) 

95. The Statute of Labourers 

statutes of the Realm- 

The existing relations of master and servant were disorganized 
by the Black Death. The demand for labour so far exceeded the 
supply that wages rose to a figure hitherto unknown. Unable, 
or unwilling, to pay the wages demanded ; alarmed at the new 
tendency of labour to seek, regardless of habitation, a market 
where the return was highest ; exasperated by the disregard 
paid by the bondmen to the ties of villeinage, the employers 
sought and secured harsh and far-reaching legislation in control 
of labour. A specimen of these enactments is given below ; for 
further examples, consult Statutes of the Realm, Vol. I. 

Edward by the grace of God, etc., to the Reverend Father 
in Christ, William, by the same grace Archbishop of Canter- 
bury, Primate of all England, greeting. Because a great 
part of the people, and especially of workmen and serv- 
ants, have lately died in the pestilence, many seeing the 
necessities of masters and great scarcity of servants, will 
not serve unless they may receive excessive wages, and 
others preferring to beg in idleness rather than by labour 
to get their living; we, considering the grievous incom- 
modities which of the lack especially of ploughmen and such 
labourers may hereafter come, have upon deliberation and 
treaty with the prelates and the nobles and learned men 
assisting us, with their unanimous counsel ordained: 

That every man and woman of our realm of England, of 
what condition he be, free or bond, able in body, and within 
the age of sixty years, not living in merchandize, nor exer- 
cising any craft, nor having of his own whereof he may live, 
nor land of his own about whose tillage he may occupy 
himself, and not serving any other; if he be required to 
serve in suitable service, his estate considered, he shall be 
bound to serve him which shall so require him; and take 



THE BLACK DEATH 207 

only the wages, livery, meed, or salary which were ac- 
customed to be given in the places where he oweth to serve, 
the twentieth year of our reign of England, or five or six 
other common years next before. Provided always, that the 
lords be preferred before others in their bondmen or their 
land tenants, so in their service to be retained ; so that, never- 
theless, the said lords shall retain no more than be necessary 
for them. And if any such man or woman being so re- 
quired to serve will not do the same, and that be proved by 
two true men before the sheriff, bailiff, lord, or constable 
of the town where the same shall happen to be done, he 
shall immediately be taken by them or any of them, and 
committed to the next gaol, there to remain under strait 
keeping, till he find surety to serve in the form aforesaid. 

If any reaper, mower, other workman or servant, of what 
estate or condition he be, retained in any man's service, do 
depart from the said service without reasonable cause or 
license, before the term agreed, he shall have pain of im- 
prisonment ; and no one, under the same penalty, shall pre- 
sume to receive or retain such a one in his service. 

No one, moreover, shall pay or promise to pay to any one 
more wages, liveries, meed, or salary than was accustomed, 
as is before said; nor shall any one in any other manner 
demand or receive them, upon pain of doubling of that which 
shall have been so paid, promised, required or received, to 
him who thereof shall feel himself aggrieved; and if none 
such will sue, then the same shall be applied to any of the 
people that will sue ; and such suit shall be in the court of 
the lord of the place where such case shall happen. 

And if lords of towns or manors presume in any point to 
come against this present ordinance, either by them or by 
their servants, then suit shall be made against them in the 
form aforesaid, in the counties, wapentakes, and tithings, 
or such courts of ours, for the penalty of treble that so paid 
or promised by them or their servants. And if any before 
this present ordinance hath covenanted with any so to serve 
for more wages, he shall not be bound, by reason of the said 
covenant, to pay more than at another time was wont to be 
paid to such a person ; nor, under the same penalty, shall 
presume to pay more. 

Also, Saddlers, skinners, white tawyers, cordwainers. tail- 
ors, smiths, carpenters, masons, tilers, shipwrights, carters, 
and all other artificers and workmen, shall not take for their 
labour and workmanship above the same that was wont to 



2o8 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

be paid to such persons the said twentieth year, and other 
common years next preceding, as before is said, in the place 
where they shall happen to work; and if any man take more 
he shall be committed to the next gaol, in manner as before 
is said. 

Also, That butchers, fishmongers, innkeepers, brewers, 
bakers, poulterers, and all other sellers of all manner of 
victuals shall be bound to sell the same victuals for a reason- 
able price, having respect to the price that such victuals be 
sold at in the places adjoining, so that the same sellers have 
moderate gains, and not excessive, reasonably to be required 
according to the distance of the place from whch the said 
victuals be carried; and if any sell such victuals in any 
other manner, and thereof be convicted, in the manner and 
form aforesaid, he shall pay the double of the same that he 
so received to the party injured, or in default of him, to 
any other that will sue in this behalf. And the mayors 
and bailiffs of cities, boroughs, merchant towns, and others, 
and of the ports and maritime places, shall have power to in- 
quire of all and singular, which shall in any thing offend 
against this, and to levy the said penalty to the use of them 
at whose suit such offenders shall be convicted. And in case 
that the same mayors and bailiffs be negligent in doing exe- 
cution of the premises, and thereof be convicted before our 
justices, by us to be assigned, then the same mayors and bai- 
liffs shall be compelled by the same justices to pay the treble 
of the thing so sold to the party injured, or to any other, in 
default of him, that will sue ; and nevertheless toward us they 
shall be grievously punished. 

And because that many strong beggars, as long as they 
may live by begging, do refuse to labour, giving themselves 
to idleness and vice, and sometimes to theft and other abom- 
inations; none upon the said pain of imprisonment, shall, 
under the colour of pity or alms, give anything to such, 
which may labour, or presume to favour them in their idle- 
ness, so that thereby they may be compelled to labour for 
their necessary living. 

(Ed. from Statutes of the Realm, I, 307, 308.) 



CHAPTER XIII 

LOLLARDY 

96. Wycliffite Conclusions: Ten Condemned as Heretical and 
Fourteen as Erroneous 

In the fourteenth century began a resistless movement against 
the Catholic Church. This movement was in the sixteenth cen- 
tury to end in the establishment of Protestantism in England. 
The movement rolled on in three great waves : that for reform 
in the personal behaviour of recreant clerics ; that for a more 
Christian life among the laity; and that for a reformation in 
doctrine. The great leader in these agitations was John Wy- 
cliff, and the Lollards were encouraged and directed by him 
and his "poor priests." As the central figure in the Lollard 
movement, it is fitting that there should be given Wycliff's 
doctrinal conclusions, the Bull of Pope Gregory against him, 
and his reply to the summons to appear at Rome. 

I. — That the material substance of bread and of wine re- 
mains, after the consecration, in the sacrament of the altar. 

IL — That the accidents do not remain without the sub- 
ject, after the consecration, in the same sacrament. 

III. — That Christ is not in the sacrament of the altar 
identically, truly and really in his proper corporal presence. 

IV. — That if a bishop or priest lives in mortal sin he does 
not ordain, or consecrate, or baptize. 

V. — That if a man has been truly repentant, all external 
confession is superfluous to him, or useless. 

VI. — Continually to assert that it is not founded in the 
gospel that Christ instituted the mass. 

VII. — That God ought to be obedient to the devil. 

VIII. — That if the pope is foreordained to destruction 
and a wicked man, and therefore a member of the devil, no 
power has been given to him over the faithful of Christ by 
any one, tuiless perhaps by the Emperor. 

IX. — That since Urban the Sixth, no one is to be acknowl- 
edged as pope ; but all are to live, in the way of the Greeks, 
under their own laws. 

X. — To assert that it is against sacred scripture that men 
of the church should have temporal possessions. 

209 



210 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

XI. — That no prelate ought to excommunicate any one 
unless he first knows that the man is excommunicated by- 
God. 

XII. — That a person thus excommunicating is thereby a 
heretic or excommunicate. 

XIII. — That a prelate excommunicating a clerk who has 
appealed to the king, or to a council of the kingdom, on that 
very account is a traitor to God, the king and the kingdom. 

XIV. — That those who neglect to preach, or to hear the 
word of God, or the gospel that is preached, because of the 
excommunication of men, are excommunicate, and in the 
day of judgment will be considered as traitors to God. 

XV. — To assert that it is allowed to any one, whether a 
deacon or a priest, to preach the word of God, without the 
authority of the apostolic see, or of a catholic bishop, or some 
other which is sufficiently acknowledged. 

XVI. — To assert that no one is a civil lord, no one is a 
bishop, no one is a prelate, so long as he is in mortal sin. 

XVII. — That temporal lords may, at their own judgment, 
take away temporal goods from churchmen who are habit- 
ually delinquent; or that the people may, at their own judg- 
ment, correct delinquent lords. 

XVIII. — That tithes are purely charity, and that par- 
ishioners may, on account of the sins of their curates, detain 
these and confer them on others at their will. 

XIX. — That special prayers applied to one person by 
prelates or religious persons, are of no more value to the 
same person than general prayers for others in a like position 
are to him. 

XX. — That the very fact that any one enters upon any 
private religion whatever, renders him more unfitted and 
more incapable of observing the commandments of God. 

XXI. — That saints who have instituted any private reli- 
gions whatever, as well of those having possessions as of 
mendicants, have sinned in thus instituting them. 

XXII. — That religious persons living in private religions 
are not of the Christian religion. 

XXIII. — That friars should be required to gain their liv- 
ing by the labour of their hands and not by mendicancy. 

XXIV. — That a person giving alms to friars, or to a 
preaching friar, is excommunicate; also the one receiving. 

{Fasciculi Zizaiiiorum, pp. 277-282. Rolls Series. Translation reprinted 
by permission of the University of Pennsylvania.) 



LOLLARDY 2ii 

97. Bull of Pope Gregory XI, against John Wycliffe 

Gregory, bishop, servant of the servants of God, to his be- 
loved sons the chancellor and University of Oxford, in the 
diocese of Lincoln, grace and apostolic benediction. 

We are compelled to v\'onder and grieve that you, who, in 
consideration of the favours and privileges conceded to your 
university of Oxford by the apostolic see, and on account of 
your familiarity with the Scriptures, in whose sea you navi- 
gate, by the gift of God, with auspicious oar, you, who ought 
to be, as it were, warriors and champions of the orthodox 
faith, without which there is no salvation of souls, — that 
you through a certain sloth and neglect allow tares to spring 
up amidst the pure wheat in the fields of your glorious uni- 
versity aforesaid; and what is still more pernicious, even 
continue to grow to maturity. And you are quite careless, 
as has been lately reported to us, as to the extirpation of 
these tares; with no little clouding of a bright name, danger 
to your souls, contempt of the Roman church, and injury to 
the faith above mentioned. And what pains us the more is 
tliat this increase of the tares aforesaid is known in Rome 
before the remedy of extirpation has been applied in England 
where they sprang up. By the insinuation of many, if they 
are indeed worthy of belief, deploring it deeply, it has come 
to our ears that John de Wycliffe, rector of the church of 
Lutterworth, in the diocese of Lincoln, Professor of the 
Sacred Scriptures, (would that he were not also Master of 
Errors,) has fallen into such a detestable madness that he 
does not hesitate to dogmatize and publicly preach, or rather 
vomit forth from the recesses of his breast certain proposi- 
tions and conclusions which are erroneous and false. He 
has cast himself also into the depravity of preaching hereti- 
cal dogmas which strive to subvert and weaken the state of 
the whole church and even secular polity, some of which 
doctrines, in changed terms, it is true, seem to express the 
perverse opinions and unlearned learning of Marsilio of 
Padua of cursed memory, and of John of Jandun, whose book 
is extant, rejected and cursed by our predecessor, Pope John 
XXII, of happy memory. This he has done in the kingdom 
of England, lately glorious in its power and in the abundance 
of its resources, but more glorious still in the glistening piety 
of its faith, and in the distinction of its sacred learning ; pro- 
ducing also many men illustrious for their exact knowledge 
of the holy vScriptures, mature in the gravity of their char- 



212 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

acter, conspicuous in devotion, defenders of the catholic 
church. He has polluted certain of the faithful of Christ by 
besprinkling them with these doctrines, and led them away 
from the right paths of the aforesaid faith to the brink of 
perdition. 

Wherefore, since we are not willing, nay, indeed, ought 
not to be willing, that so deadly a pestilence should continue 
to exist with our connivance, a pestilence which, if it is not 
opposed in its beginnings, and torn out by the roots in its 
entirety, will be reached too late by medicines when it has in- 
fected very many with its contagion; we command your 
university with strict admonition, by the apostolic authority, 
in virtue of your sacred obedience, and under penalty of the 
deprivation of all the favours, indulgences, and privileges 
granted to you and your university by the said see, for the 
future not to permit to be asserted or set forth to any extent 
whatever, the opinions, conclusions, and propositions which 
are in variance with good morals and faith, even when those 
setting them forth strive to defend them under a certain 
fanciful wresting of words or of terms. Moreover, you are 
on our authortity to arrest the said John, or cause him to be 
arrested and to send him under a trustworthy guard to our 
venerable brother, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the 
Bishop of London, or to one of them. 

Besides, if there should be, which God forbid, in your uni- 
versity, subject to your jurisdiction, opponents stained with 
these errors, and if they should obstinately persist in them, 
proceed vigorously and earnestly to a similar arrest and 
removal of them, and otherwise as shall seem good to you. 
Be vigilant to repair your negligence which you have 
hitherto shown in the premises, and so obtain our gratitude 
and favour, and that of the said see, besides the honour and 
reward of the divine recompense. 

Given at Rome, at Santa Maria Maggiore, on the 31st of 
May, the sixth year of our pontificate. 

{Fasciculi Zizaniorjcm, pp. 242-244. Rolls Series. Translation reprinted 
by permission of the University of Pennsylvania.) 

98. Reply of Wycliffe to a Summons from the Pope 

(1384) 

I have joy fully to tell what I hold, to all true men that 
believe and especially to the Pope; for I suppose that if my 
faith be rightful and given of God, the Pope will gladly con- 



LOLLARDY 213 

firm it ; and if my faith be error, the Pope will wisely 
amend it. 

I suppose over this that the gospel of Christ be heart of the 
corps of God's law ; for I believe that Jesus Christ, that gave 
in his own person this gospel, is very God and very man, and 
by this heart passes all other laws. 

I suppose over this that the Pope be most obliged to the 
keeping of the gospel among all men that live here; for the 
Pope is highest vicar that Christ has here in earth. For 
moreness of Christ's vicar is not measured by worldly more- 
ness, but by this, that this vicar follows more Christ by vir- 
tuous living; for thus teacheth the gospel, that this is the 
sentence of Christ. 

And of this gospel I take as believe, that Christ for time 
that he walked here, was most poor man of all, both in spirit 
and in having; for Christ says that he had nought for to rest 
his head on. And Paul says that he was made needy for 
our love. And more poor might no man be, neither bodily 
nor in spirit. And thus Christ put from him all manner of 
worldly lordship. For the gospel of John telleth that when 
they would have made Christ king, he fled and hid him from 
them, for he would none such worldly highness. 

And over this I take it as believe, that no man should fol- 
low the Pope, nor no saint that now is in heaven, but in as 
much as he follows Christ. For John and James erred when 
they coveted worldly highness ; and Peter and Paul sinned 
also when they denied and blasphemed in Christ ; but men 
should not follow them in this, for then they went from Jesus 
Christ. x\nd this I take as wholesome counsel, that the Pope 
leave his worldly lordship to worldly lords, as Christ gave 
them, — and more speedily all his clerks to do so. For thus 
did Christ, and taught thus his disciples, till the fiend had 
blinded this world. And it seems to some men that clerks 
that dwell lastingly in this error against God's law, and flee 
to follow Christ in this, been open heretics, and their fautors 
been partners. 

And if I err in this sentence, I will meekly be amended, 
yea, by the death, if it be skilful, for that I hope were good 
to me. And if I might travel in mine own person, I would 
with good will go to the Pope. But God has needed me to 
the contrary, and taught me more obedience to God than to 
men. And I suppose of our Pope that he will not be Anti- 
christ, and reverse Christ in this working, to the contrary of 
Christ's will ; for if he summon against reason, by him or by 



214 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

any of his, and pursue this unskilful summoning, he is an 
open Antichrist. And merciful intent excused not Peter, 
that Christ should not clepe him Satan; so blind intent and 
wicked counsel excuses not the Pope here; but if he ask of 
true priests that they travel more than they may, he is not 
excused by reason of God, that he should not be Antichrist. 
For our belief teaches us that our blessed God suffers us not 
to be tempted more than we may ; how should a man ask such 
service? And therefore pray we to God for our pope Urban 
the sixth, that his old holy intent be not quenched by his 
enemies. And Christ, that may not lie, says that the enemies 
of a man been especially his home family; and this is sooth 
of men and fiends. 

(Select English Works of Wy cliff e, ed. Arnold, Lond., Ill, 504. 
Spelling modernized.) 

99. De Hseretico Comburendo 

(2 Henry IV., 1401) 

Statutes of the Realm 

Henry IV., a devout son of the Catholic Church, by the advice 
of Archbishop Arundell sought to stay by legislation the Lollard 
movement. To that end was passed in 1402 the statute De 
Hceretico Comburendo, an ordinance resting on the authority 
of the king and the Lords, as the Commons were distinctly 
opposed to the line of policy therein outlined. This sweeping 
measure was the first enactment prescribing death as the 
punishment for heresy; but before its passage, even in England, 
death by burning at the stake had under the Common Law 
been meted out to heretics. 

Whereas, it is shown to our sovereign lord the king on the 
behalf of the prelates and clergy of his realm of England in 
this present Parliament, that although the Catholic faith 
builded upon Christ, and by his apostles and the Holy Church 
sufficiently determined, declared and approved, hath been 
hitherto by good and holy and most noble progenitors and 
predecessors of our sovereign lord the king in the said realm 
amongst all the realms of the world most devoutly observed, 
and the Church of England by his said most noble progen- 
itors and ancestors, to the honour of God and the whole 
realm aforesaid laudably endowed and in her rights and 
liberties sustained, without that the same faith or the said 
church was hurt or grievously oppressed, or else perturbed 
by any perverse doctrine or wicked, heretical, or erroneous 
opinions. Yet, nevertheless, divers false and preverse people 
of a certain new sect, of the faith of the sacraments of the 
church, and the authority of the same damnably thinking, 
and against the law of God and of the Church usurping the 



LOLLARDY 215 

office of preaching, do perversely and maliciously in divers 
places within the said realm, under the colour of dissembled 
holiness, preach and teach these days openly and privily 
divers new doctrines, and wicked heretical and erroneous 
opinions contrary to the same faith and blessed determina- 
tions of the Holy Church, and of such sect and wicked doc- 
trine and opinions they make unlawful conventicles and con- 
federacies, they hold and exercise schools, they make and 
write books, they do wickedly instruct and inform people, 
and as much as they may excite and stir them to sedition and 
insurrection, and make great strife and division among the 
people, and other enormities horrible to be heard daily do 
perpetrate and commit, in subversion of the said catholic 
faith and doctrine of the holy church, in diminution of divine 
worship, and also in destruction of the estate, rights, and 
liberties of the said church of England ; by which sect and 
wicked and false preachings, doctrines, and opinions of the 
said false and perverse people, not only most greatest peril 
of the souls, but also many more other hurts, slanders, and 
perils, which God prohibit, might come to this realm, unless 
it be the more plentifully and speedily helped by the king's 
majesty in this behalf; especially since the diocesans of the 
said realm cannot by their jurisdiction spiritual, without aid 
of the said royal majesty, sufficiently correct the said false 
and perverse people, nor refrain their malice, because the 
said false and perverse people do go from diocese to diocese 
and will not appear before the said diocesans, but the same 
diocesans and their jurisdiction spiritual, and the keys of the 
church with the censures of the same, do utterly condemn 
and despise ; and so their wicked preachings and doctrines 
do from day to day continue and exercise to the utter de- 
struction of all order and rule of right and reason. Upon 
which novelties and excesses above rehearsed, the prelates 
and clergy aforesaid, and also the Commons of the said realm 
being in the same Parliament, have prayed our sovereign 
lord the king that his royal highness would vouchsafe in the 
said Parliament to provide a convenient remedy. The same 
our sovereign lord the king, graciously considering the 
premises, and also the laudable steps of his said most noble 
progenitors and ancestors, for the conservation of the said 
catholic faith and sustentation of the said divine worship, and 
also the safcp-uard of the estate, rights and liberties of the 
said church of England, to the laud of God and merit of our 
said sovereign lord the king, and prosperity and honour of 



2i6 SOURCE-BOOK Of ENGLIS^H HISTORY 

all his said realm, and for the eschewing of such dissensions, 
divisions, hurts, slanders, and perils, in time to come, and that 
this wicked sect, preachings, doctrines, and opinions, should 
from henceforth cease and be utterly destroyed; by the 
assent of the great lords and other noble persons of the said 
realm, being in the said Parliament, hath granted, stablished, 
and ordained, from henceforth firmly to be observed, that 
none within the said realm, or any other dominions subject 
to his royal majesty, presume to preach openly or privily, 
without the license of the diocesan of the same place first 
required and obtained, curates in their own churches and 
persons hitherto privileged, and other of the canon law 
granted, only excepted ; nor that none from henceforth any- 
thing preach, hold, teach, or instruct openly or privily, or 
make or write any book contrary to the catholic faith or 
determination of the holy church, nor of such sect and wicked 
doctrines and opinions shall make any conventicles, or in any 
wise hold or exercise schools ; and also that none from hence- 
forth in any wise favour such preacher or maker of any such 
and like conventicles, or persons holding or exercising 
schools, or making or writing such books, or so teaching, 
informing, or exciting the people, nor any of them maintain 
or in any wise sustain, and that all and singular having such 
books or any writings of such wicked doctrine and opinions, 
shall really with effect deliver or cause to be delivered all 
such books and writings to the diocesan of the same place 
wdthin forty days from the time of the proclamation of this 
ordinance and statute. 

And if any person or persons of whatsoever sex, estate, or 
condition that he or they be, from henceforth do or attempt 
against the said royal ordinance and statute aforesaid in the 
premises or any of them, or such books in the form aforesaid 
do not deliver, then the diocesan of the same place in his dio- 
cese such person or persons in this behalf defamed or evi- 
dently suspected and every of them may by the authority of 
the said ordinance and statute cause to be arrested and under 
safe custody in his prison to be detained till he or they of the 
articles laid to him or them in this behalf do canonically 
purge him or themselves, or else such wicked sect, preach- 
ings, doctrines and heretical and erroneous opinions do ab- 
jure, according as the laws of the church do demand and 
require. 

***** 

And if any person within the said realm and dominions, 



LOLLARD y 217 

upon the said wicked preachings, doctrines, opinions, schools, 
and heretical and erroneous informations, or any of them be 
before the diocesan of the same place or his commissaries 
convicted by sentence, and the same wicked sect, preachings, 
doctrines and opinions, schools and informations, do refuse 
duly to abjure, or by the diocesan of the same place or his 
commissaries, after the abjuration made by the same person 
be pronounced relapsed, so that according to the holy canons 
he ought to be left to the secular court, (upon which cred- 
ence shall be given to the diocesan of the same place or to 
his commissaries in this behalf), then the sheriff of the 
county of the same place, and mayor and sheriffs, or sheriff, 
or mayor and bailiffs of the city, town, and borough of the 
same county next to the sam.e diocesan or the said commis- 
saries, shall be personally present in preferring of such sen- 
tences, when they by the same diocesan or his commissaries 
shall be required ; and they the same persons and every of 
them, after such sentence promulgate shall receive, and them 
before the people in an high place cause to be burnt, that 
such punishment may strike fear into the minds of others, 
whereby no such wicked doctrine and heretical and erroneous 
opinions, nor their authors and fautors, in the said realm and 
dominions, against the catholic faith. Christian law, and 
determination of the holy church, which God prohibit, be 
sustained or in any wise suffered in which all and singular 
the premises concerning the said ordinance and statute, the 
sheriffs, mayors, and bailiffs of the said counties, cities, 
boroughs and towns shall be attending, aiding, and support- 
ing to the said diocesans and their commissaries. 

(Ed. from Statutes of the Realtn, II, 125-128.) 

ROYAL LETTERS REGARDING LOLLARDY 

No more illuminating documents exist than those of the royal 
letters regarding the Lollards. Those selected are peculiarly 
suggestive. No. 100 shows the attitude of Henry V. toward the 
Church, in its relation with Lollardy. No. loi directs the pro- 
secution of Sir John Oldcastle. the Lollard leader. No. 102 out- 
lines the attitude of Henry VI., and the importance of the 
religious movement. 

100. Henry V. to the Mayor and Sheriffs of London 

(1413) ^ , ^ 

Letters of the Kings of Ettgtand 

The King, &c., greeting. Inasmuch as we have been given 
to understand, that certain priests, not privileged by law for 
this purpose, nor licensed by the diocesan of the place, nor 



2iS SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

permitted by the church, who are said to be of this new sect 
of the Lollards, have been preaching in public places within 
the aforesaid city, and in the suburbs and vicinity thereof, 
in order to excite and win over some, who are ill disposed to 
the Catholic faith, and the doctrine of holy mother church; 
and by their own rashness, and contrary to the laws and 
ordinances of the church, they have preached, nay, rather 
have profaned the Word of God; or, at least, under pretext 
of preaching, they have in such places been emboldened to 
propagate discord among our people and the pestiferous 
seeds of Lollardism and evil doctrine, after the manner of 
preachers ; and as some of our people of our said city and its 
vicinity, under pretence of hearing such preaching, have 
assembled to those places, and have congregated together in 
large multitudes ; and, in consequence, murmurs and sedi- 
tions have in part arisen, and will probably arise, to the dis- 
turbance and no small marring of our peace, unless a remedy 
be more quickly applied to abolish such meetings and pull 
down such conventicles : 

We, desiring especially to provide for the defence of the 
Catholic faith, the laws and ordinances of the church, and 
for preserving our peace, command you, that you cause pro- 
clamation publicly to be made, within our city aforesaid, and 
its suburbs, in every place where you shall find it expedient : 

That no chaplains, of whatever degree, state, or condition 
they may be, shall henceforward hold, cherish, affirm, 
preach, or defend such opinions, heresy or error, contrary to 
the decision of holy mother church ; and that none other our 
lieges and subjects in this matter adhere to or abet them, or 
lend them counsel or assistance, under penalty of imprison- 
ment of their bodies, and the forfeiture of all their goods and 
chattels, to our will and disposal. We further command and 
positively enjoin you that, if henceforth you shall be able to 
find within your bailiwick any such chaplains preaching and 
affirming publicly or secretly, contrary to the aforesaid re- 
script, or any other our lieges and subjects making conven- 
ticles and meetings, or receiving the same chaplains, or being 
under probable or great suspicion concerning the premises, 
or in any way counselling, favouring, or helping such chap- 
lains in this matter, then arrest ye them without delay, and 
commit them to prison, there to remain, until they shall obey 
the commands of the diocesan in whose diocese they may 
have preached, and it shall have been certified unto you 
accordingly by the same diocesan. 



'^ LOLLARDY 219 

And, that also in our places aforesaid, ye cause it to be 
proclaimed, in our behalf, that no such chaplain presume 
hereafter to preach, contrary to the constitutions of the prov- 
ince published, without license, sought and obtained as a 
qualified literate ; and that none of our lieges henceforward 
hear the same chaplains so preaching, or be present at such 
preachings on any pretence alleged, under the punishment 
and forfeiture aforesaid; and that all and every our lieges 
and subjects of our city and suburbs aforesaid comply with, 
obey, and attend to you and any of you, in the carrying out 
of the premises, under penalty of imprisonment. 

Witness the King, at Westminster, the 21st day of August, 
1413- 

{Letters of the Kings of Engla7id, ed. by J.O. Halliwell, Lond., 1846, I, p. 72.) 

loi. Henry V. to the Sheriff of Kent 

(1414) 

Letters of the Kings of Engla7t.d 

The king to the sheriff of Kent, greeting. Whereas we 
are more fully informed, and it is notoriously and openly dis- 
covered, that very many our subjects of our kingdom of Eng- 
land, vulgarly called Lollards, have, by the agency, instiga- 
tion, encouragement, abetting, and upholding of John Old- 
castle, knight, who hath lately stood condemned of heresy, 
and is declared and pronounced a manifest heretic, according 
to the canonical decrees published on that behalf, have 
preached and caused to be preached divers opinions mani- 
festly contrary to the Catholic faith ; and have falsely and 
traitorously, contrary to their due allegiance, contemplated 
our death, because that we do take part against them and 
such their opinions, even as a true Christian prince, and as 
we are bound by the chain of our oath ; and, whereas they 
have formed many other designs to the destruction as well 
of the Catholic faith as of the estate of the lords and nobles 
of our kingdom, as well spiritual as temporal; and they have 
purposed to hold various meetings and other unlawful cabals, 
with a view to perpetrate their abominable project in this 
behalf, and desist not from daily plotting (as far as in them 
lies) to the probable destruction of our own person, and of 
the estates of the lords and nobles aforesaid ; we, considering 
in what manner certain such Lollards and others, who imag- 
ined and designed our death and the other mischiefs and 
misdeeds aforesaid, have been taken for the before-named 
reason, and stand adjudged to death for this abominable act 
and purpose; and wishing to order and provide, in the best 



220 SOURCt,-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

and most quiet manner possible, for the avoiding of the 
effusion of Christian blood, and especially that of our lieges 
whom, on account of our tender and special regard towards 
them, we desire, with our whole heart's intent, to preserve 
from the shedding of blood and corporal punishment. 

We command you, and positively enjoin, that in each place 
in your bailiwick, where you shall find it best, you cause 
to be proclaimed publicly on our behalf, that they, by whose 
agency, incitement, counsel, or information, the said John 
shall ht taken or arrested, shall receive five hundred marks ; 
and he that shall take or cause to be arrested the same John, 
one thousand marks, of our free gift, for his labour and 
his pains in this behalf, and that the citizens, burgesses, 
and corporations of the cities, boroughs, and other towns, 
who shall take and arrest the same John, and shall cause him 
to be brought before us, shall be quit and wholly exonerated 
for ever from all taxes, tallages, tenths, fifteenths, and other 
contributions whatever, to us and our heirs hereafter pay- 
able, and that we will cause accordingly to be made to theni 
our letters patent under our great seal ; and that in doing 
their own concerns, and in any lawful and honourable trans- 
actions whatever to be done towards ourself, they shall find 
and have ourself more than usually gracious. 

Witness the King, at Westminster, the nth day of Jan- 
uary, 1 41 4. 

{Letters of the Kings 0/ England, ed. cit., I, p. 74.) 

102. King Henry VI. to the Abbot of St. Edmondsbury and to the 
Aldermen and Bailiffs of the Town, for the Suppression of 
the Lollards 

By the king, 

Trusty and well-beloved, the malicious intent and purpose 
of God's traitors and ours, heretics in this our realm, com- 
monly called Lollards, the which now lately setting up of 
seditious bills, and otherwise traitorously exhorted, stirred 
and moved the people of our land to assemble, gather, and 
arise against God's peace and ours, is not unknown to you 
nor to no man endued with reason, foresight, or discretion : 
the which, howbeit that they of high subtlety, fraud, and 
fellness, feign, pretend, and write such thing as they trow 
to blind with you that be simple, and to draw by their arts 
and affections to them and their intent, intending never- 
theless and purposing without any doubt the subversion of 
the Christian faith, and belief of us also and of all estates, 



LOLLARDY 221 

and gentlemen, and generally of all true Christian men and 
women that will not follow them, and assist them in their 
damnable errors, intent and purpose, and would destroy all 
political rule and government, spiritual and temporal ; and 
considering that they, against God's law and man's, stir our 
people without our commandment or authority to assemble 
and arise, and therewith purpose and would take upon them 
and usurp as well our royal power and authority as the 
Church's, and use correction and government in no wise be- 
longing unto them that ought to be governed, and not so to 
govern ; the which stirring and usurpation of our royal 
power, by the law of this our land, is treason, each reason- 
able man may well feel that in eschewing of chastising, and 
aspire reddome [violence] to the contemner of our laws, they 
so doing would never by their wills come to reckoning there- 
of, but dispose them to be out of subjection, obedience, or awe 
of us, and of our law ; and, as God knoweth, never would they 
be subject to his, nor to man's, but would be loose and free, to 
rob, reve, and despoil, slay and destroy all men of estate, 
thrift, and worship, as they purposed to have done in our 
fadre's days, and of lad and lurdains [clowns] would make 
lords, and generally would use, do, and fulfil all their lusts 
and wills that God forbade : and howbeit, that by the grace 
of our Lord, and the great and notable diligence of our bel 
[good] uncle of Gloucester, our lieutenant, and of other com- 
missioners and judges in sundry places, lawful execution may 
be done upon divers of the said God's traitors and ours ; the 
which, if reason ought to have been unto them and their 
accomplices extreme confusion and rebuke; nevertheless, it 
is credibly from day to day reported unto our said lieutenant 
and council here, in divers ways, that the wicked and ma- 
licious purpose of the said traitors ceaseth not, but con- 
tinueth and abideth : wherefore, howbeit, that we wrote late 
ago unto you, that be now true unto God and us, to the intent 
that followeth : nevertheless, forasmuch as we know not 
when our said letters came unto you, praying you heartily 
and also charging you on the failh, truth, and allegiance 
that ye owe to God and to us. that with all diligence and 
without delay or tarrying, ye ordain and array you and 
yours, and stir other such as will accompany you to be ready 
to assemble, with other of our true liege men to do the 
same, and withstand mightily, chastise, and subdue the 
damnable malice and enterprise of God's said traitors and 
ours, the which ye and all our true liege men have great 



222 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

cause and matter to have in great await. And, in iespecial, 
we will and charge you that ye inquire, consider, and take 
good heed from time to time, which of the inhabitants in the 
country about who have now of late time absented them, or 
absent from them hereafter, otherwise than their occupation 
or craft axeth ; and also, of strange and unknown comers, 
such as any matter of ill suspicion may reasonably be felt 
in, and that ye arrest, search, and examine them in the 
straightest wise, whence they come, and where they have 
been, and of all the days, times, and places of their absence; 
and also, if sowers of seditions, slanderous or troublous 
language, or tales. Over this, not suffering privy gather- 
ings, or conventicles to be had or made by night or by day 
thereabout, you having alway your recourse and resort, when- 
soever you think that need is for your succour, your help, 
and comfort to our said lieutenant and council, whom ye 
shall find ever well-willed and disposed to purvey that that 
may be to your surety, and comfort and ease ; and fail not 
in due and diligent execution of these things aforesaid, as 
ye desire our prosperity and yours and welfare. Given 
under our privy seal at Westminster, the sixth day of July. 
To our trusty and well-beloved the Aldermen and Bailiffs 
of our town of Bury. 

{Letters of the Ki7igs of England, ed. cited, i, 115.) 

103. Mandate for the Burning of a Heretic 

(1438) 

Letters of the Kings of England 

There exists a misconception regarding the executions of 
heretics under English law. It is not infrequently supposed that 
the death penalty for heresy was peculiar to the reign of Mary. 
(Nos. 131, 132.) The selection given will therefore be as sug- 
gestive as No. 141, which follows in the chapter devoted to the 
reign of Elizabeth. 

The king to the sheriffs of London, etc.. 

Whereas the venerable Father Robert, bishop of London, 
by the assent and consent of reverend men of great discern- 
ment and wisdom, as well doctors of divinity as others, 
doctors of the canon and civil law, who were aiding to him 
in the process of justice required in this behalf, and which 
hath been observed in all points, hath pronounced John Bis- 
mire, otherwise called John Chandyrer, of the Parish of 
Saint Mary-at-Axe, in the city of London, M^ho hath fallen 
back into the heresy which he held and abjured — a heretic 
relapsed — by his definite sentence, according to laws and 



LOLLARDY 223 

canonical decrees set forth in this matter, even as appeareth 
to us by the letter of the foresaid bishop ; and as Holy 
Mother Church hath not any more that she can do in the 
preceding case . . . 

We, therefore, zealous for justice, and revering the catholic 
faith, and willing to uphold and defend Holy Church, the 
rights and liberties of the same, to pluck out by the roots 
heresies and errors out of our kingdom of England, as far 
in us lieth, and to punish with condign punishment heretics 
so convicted; and considering that such heretics, convicted 
in the form aforesaid, according to law, divine and human, 
and the canons and institutes in this behalf, ought, as a 
matter of course, to be burned with the burning of fire. 

To you we command, with all strictness possible, and 
positively enjoin, that the aforesaid John, now being in your 
custody, you cause to be committed to flames in some public 
and open place, within the liberty of the city foresaid, having 
made public the reason before stated, in presence of the 
people; and him to be burned in the same fire in very deed, 
by way of abomination of a crime of this kind, and as an 
open example to others, his neighbours: and this at your 
instant peril by no means omit ye. 

Witness the king, the 14th day of May, the sixteenth year 
of his reign. 

(^Letters of the Kings of England, ed. cited, I, 119.) 



PART V 

THE TUDOR PERIOD 

(1 509-1603) 



225 



CHAPTER XIV 

THE DIVORCE QUESTION 



104. Henry's Attempts to secure the Aid of the Church 

(1530) 

Original Letters 

The following letter from the emissary of the king to the 
Italian universities shows the method on which Henry proceeded 
in his efforts to obtain the sanction of the Church to his divorce 
from Katherine. 

Richard Croke to Henry VIH., on the prevarication of 
certain Friars of the University of Padua, who had taken 
his Majesty's money to give their subscription as disallow- 
ing his marriage with Queen Katharine, but now are for it. 

(Ms. Had. 416, fol. 21 Orig.) 

Please yt yowr Highnes to be aduertysed that syns the 
xxviij day of Auguste I delyuered vnto friar Thomas xxiij 
the xxviij crotiynes ; syns the whyche tyme he hathe got yowr 
Highnes but vij subscriptions ; the whiche I sent by Harwel 
the xix of Octobre. And of them, too only excepte, there ys 
not on worthy thanke. I have and do often cal vpon hym, but 
he answerithe me that there ys no mo doctors to be goten : 
the contrary whereof I knowye to be trew. And w4ian I de- 
mande off hym for the declaration off my accompts som 
remembrance off his hande for xlvij crouynes whyche I 
have paide hym, he answerythe that at th'end off the cause 
he wyl other make me a byl, or delyver me th'ole money 
ayene. And hys cause why he wol make me no byl, ys, as 
he saithe, feare leste hys byl myght be shewed to yow 
Highnes aduersaryes. Off the whyche pretendyd feare I 
so moche the more douzt, by cause I have taken hym twysse 
styffelye reasonying upon the Queenys parte ayenste yowr 
Highnes conclusion with a friar of Florence, whom afore 
thys day he alwayes assuryed me to be off yowr Highnes 
opinion. Albeyt now he saithe the said friar ys departyd, 
beynge utter enymye to the same. And in communication, 

227 



228 SOURCE-BOOK Of ENGLISH HISTORy 

Soverayiie Lord, with me upon his said reasonyiige with 
the said friar, he said to me that th'Emperowrs embassator 
shulde say to him quod si velit procurare pro Regina merces 
ejus non staret intus pauciila scuta, and he addyd these 
words to the same, Crede mihi, Croce, posse me efficere si 
velim facere quod alii velint et faciunt, ut quidquid hactenus 
fecerim pro rege illi magis obsit quam prosit. Thys frute 
commythe off Rhaphaels works put in printe makinge pro- 
testation in the work writen ayenste yowr Highnes quod 
quidquid scripserit pro eadem id onine tantum ex aliornm 
mente non sua ad ingenii exercitationem scripserit. And 
that the worke writen ayenste yowr Highnes ys hys very 
trew and playne opinion, and firme and ful sentence and 
mynde. What hurte thys worke with sutche werks as ar in 
EngHshe, setforthe in England (by comen rumor here) ay- 
enste yowr Highnes cause, dot the unto yowr Highnes said 
cause I have at temptit by doble lettres sente by the means 
off Harwel from Venice to Antewarpe, and from Antewarpe 
to yowr Highnes by post, purposely acertayned yowr High- 
nes. And consyderinge that I can get no mo subscription 
nother off Friar Ambrose nor off Thomas, very feare com- 
pellythe me to aduertyse yowr Highnes that all these Friars 
were firste and only attayned vnto yowr Highnes by me. 
And Ambrose had off me for the gettinge of the determina- 
tion off Padua for his parte only xx crouynes. Thomas 
hathe had xlvij crouynes. Franciscus, for him and Dio- 
nysius, Ixxvij crouynes, as I can right wel prove. And thys 
notwithstandynge, whan I cal upon them for som frute of 
none off theyr labor, except Dionysius, I can get non. And 
as Ambrose hathe answerid me that my Lorde of London 
hathe commandyd hym tantum in causa regia facere quam 
ipsi prescripserit Cassalius, so Leonicus, a man off greate 
gravitye and lernynge, by his lettres ( whereof f a copye I 
sende herein enclosyd) acertaynthe me off a wars poynte. 
Albe yt I truste yt be not so, for suche commaundemente 
coulde not but be prejudicial, as wel unto yowr high cause 
as unto my labors taken in the same, and also to the losse 
off the money that I have laid owzt to the said friars, for 
the same. Nor can I not perceve how (yff thys be true) 
that I any more may preferre yowr most high causes in 
Venice and the partyes abowzt. Whose importune labor 
my Lorde knowethe to have bene the principal and chefe 
cause off the successe that yowr Highnes cause hathe had 
in Italye. Where afore my commynge, nor yet by other men 



THE Dll'ORCE QUESTION 229 

longe after, there was (as yowr Highnes and al other know- 
ethe) nothinge earthely done. And I beseche yowr Highnes 
to pondre my good harte and acts passed, the whyche shall 
never (to dye for yt) cease to farther yowr said Highnes 
pleasure in thys behalffe, with all payne, faythe, and dili- 
gence, as the effect off my endevor I truste shal alwayes 
frutefully profe. And thus I besech our mooste mercyful 
Saviour Christe to preserve yowr moste noble Grace. At 
Venice, the xxiij^ off Octobre, with the rude hand off yowr 
moste High Majestyes. 

Moste humble and lauly servante 

RICHARDE CROKE. 

(From Original Letters illustrative of English History, Ellis, Load., 1846 
Third Series, II, p. 167. 

105. Speeches made in the Divorce Trial between Henry VIII 
and Katherine of Arragon 

(1529) 

Soniers Tracts 

The four speeches which follow show the hasty method of 
the proceedings as inaugurated, the gross injustice to the queen, 
and the independence of Campeius, who refused to bend his 
sense of right to the will of the royal despot. The determination 
of the cardinal that judgment must be given by the pope was an 
important factor in producing the religious revolution which 
later shook England to her centre and freed her from papal 
domination. 

"The four following articles are the Speeches of the different 
parties at the famous trial of Divorce, before Wolsey and Cam- 
peius, as papal commissioners, 21st June, 1529. The Speeches 
are here given rather more fully than in the Chronicles." 



The Speech of Queen Katherine. which she made when 
she was called upon, about the Divorce of her and the King, 
who rose out of her chair, and came to the King, and kneeling 
down at his feet, said as followeth : 

Sir, 

In what have I offended you? Or what occasion of dis- 
pleasure have I given you, intending thus to put me from 
you? I take God to be my judge, I have been to you a 
true and humble wife, ever conformable to your will and 
pleasure; never contradicting or gain-saying you in any 



230 SOURCE-BOOK OP ENGLISH HISTORY 

thing: being always Contented with all things, wherein you 
had any delight, or took any pleasure, without grudge, or 
countenance of discontent or displeasure. I loved, for your 
sake, all them whom you loved, whether I had cause or no; 
whether they were my friends, or my enemies. I have been 
your wife these twenty years or more, and you had by me 
divers children; and when you had me first, I take God to 
be my judge, that I was a maid : and whether it be true or no, 
I put it to your own conscience. If there be any just cause 
that you can alledge against me, either of dishonesty, or mat- 
ter lawful to put me from you, I am content to depart, to my 
shame and confusion ; and if there be none, then I pray 
you to let me have justice at your hands. The king, your 
father, was, in his time, of such an excellent wit, that he 
was accounted amongst all men for wisdom, to be a second 
Solomon; and the king of Spain, my father Fardinand, was 
accounted one of the wisest princes that had reigned in 
Spain for many years. It is not, therefore, to be doubted, 
but that they had gathered as wise counsellors unto them, 
of every realm, as to their wisdom they thought meet : And 
I conceive, that there were in those days, as wise and well- 
learned men, in both the realms, as be now at this day, who 
thought the marriage between you and me good and lawful. 
Therefore it is a wonder to me, what new inventions are 
now invented against me. And now to put me to stand to 
the order and judgment of this court, seems very unreason- 
able. For you may condemn me for want of being able to 
answer for myself; as having no council, but such as you 
assigned me; who cannot be indifferent on my part, since 
they are your subjects, and such as you have taken, and 
chosen out of your own council; whereunto they are privy, 
and dare not disclose your will, and intent. Therefore I 
humbly pray you, to spare me, until I may know, what 
council my friends in Spain will advise me to take : and if 
you will not, then your pleasure be fulfilled. — And with 
that she rose up, and departed, never more appearing in any 
court. 

King Henry the Vlllth's Speech upon the Queen's depart- 
ure out of the Court. 

I will now, in her absence, declare this unto you all. That 
she has been unto me as true and obedient a wife, as I could 
wish, or desire. She has all the virtuous qualities, that 



THE DIJ'ORCE QUESTION' 



2-JI 



ought to be in a woman of her dignity, or in any other of 
mean condition. She is also surely a noble woman born : 
Her condition will well declare it. 

The Speech of Queen Katherine to Cardinal Campeius. and 
Wolsey, they being sent by the king. 

My lords, I cannot answer you so suddenly; for I was 
set, among my maids, at work, little thinking of any such 
matter; wherein there needs a longer deliberation, and a 
better head than mine, to make answer. For I have need 
of council in this case, which concerns me so near : and for 
any council, or friends that I can find in England, they are 
not for my profit. For it is not likely that any Englishman 
will council me, or be a friend to me against the king's 
pleasure, since they are his subjects; and for my council, in 
which I may trust, they are in Spain. 

The Speech of Cardinal Campeius, upon King Henry the 
VHIth's calling for judgment. 

I will not give judgment, till I have made relation to the 
pope of all our proceedings ; whose council, and command, 
I will observe. The matter is too high for us to give an 
hasty judgment, considering the highness of the persons, 
and doubtfulness of the case ; and also whose commissioners 
we be, under whose authority we sit. It were therefore 
reason that we should make our chief head a council in the 
same, before we proceed to a definitive sentence. I came 
not to please, for favour, need, or dread, of any person alive, 
be he king, or otherwise. I have no such respect to the 
person, that I will offend my conscience. I will not, for 
the favour or disfavour of any high estate, do that thing, 
which shall be against the will of God. — / am an old man, 
(both weak and sickly) that look daily for death. I ivill 
not wade any farther in this matter, until I have the opinion 
and assent of the pope. 

(From Sotners'' Collection of Tracts, ed. by Walter Scott, Lond., 1809, I, 223.) 

106. The Divorce Proceedings announced to the House of Commons 

(1531) 

Parhajfientnry History 

On March 30, 1531, the Lord Chancellor, together with a 
committee of Lords Spiritual and Temporal, went to the House 
of Commons, where the Chancellor opened the proceedings witft 
a brief speech announcing tlie reason of the visit. There is a 



232 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

orim humour in the king's self-accusation of incestuous union, 
and the subserviency of the consulted authorities is an object- 
lesson of the time. The object of the communication is set forth 
in the concluding sentences of the extract, but it may be doubted 
if the purpose was accomplished. 

"You of this worshipful House, 

"I am sure you be not so ignorant but you know well that 
the Kyng our Soveraign Lorde hath maried his Brother's 
Wyfe ; for she was both wedded and bedded with his Brother 
Prince Arthur, and therefore you may surely say that he 
hath maried his Brother's Wyfe, if this Mariage be good as 
so many Clerkes do doubt; Wherefore the Kyng, like a vir- 
tuous Prince, willing to be satisfied in his Conscience, and 
also for the Suretie of his Realme, hath, with great Delibera- 
tion, consulted with great Clerkes, and hath sent my Lorde 
of London, here present, to the chiefe Universities of all 
Christendome, to know their Opinion and Judgment in that 
Behalf. And altho' the Universities of Cambryge and Ox- 
forde had been sufficient to discusse the Cause, yet, because 
they be in this Realme, and to avoyde all Suspicion of Par- 
tiality, he hath sent into the Realme of France, Italy, the 
Pope's Dominions, and Venetians, to know their Judgment 
in that Behalf; which have concluded, written, and sealed 
their Determinations, accordyng as you shall heare red." 
Then Sir Brian Tuke took out of a Box twelve Writings 
sealed, and read them before the House as they were trans- 
lated into the English Tongue. 

Next follows, in Hall, the Judgment of the Foreign Uni- 
versities; which were those of Paris, Orleans, Anjou, Bruges, 
Bononia, and Padua, at Length. These being somewhat 
foreign to our Purpose, we shall therefore content ourselves 
with observing, That the Question put to these learned So- 
cieties was, Whether the Pope's Dispensation for a Brother's 
marrying a Brother's Wife, after Consummation with her 
former Husband, was valid or not ? Which, as the Question 
was stated, they all gave in the Negative. 

These Determinations being all read in the House, there 
were produced abouve an hundred different Books, wrote by 
foreign Civilians and Divines, against the Lawfulness of the 
Marriage; which, says Hall, because the Day was far spent, 
were not read. Then the Chancellor again said, "Now you 
of this Commen House may reporte in your Countries what 
you have seene and heard; and then all Men shall openly 



rilE DirOKCE QUESTION . 233 

perceyve that the Kyng hath not attempted this Matter of 
Wyll or Pleasure, as some Straungers reporte, but only for 
the Discharge of his Conscience, and Suretie of the Succes- 
sion of his Realme. This is the Cause of our Repayre hyther 
to you, and now we vvyl departe." 

i^Parliameyitnry History, and ed., Lond., 1762. Vol. Ill, p. 81.) 



CHAPTER XV 

HENRY VIII. AND THE CHURCH 



107. Payment of Annates to the Pope forbidden 

Parliamentary History 

The struggle between Henry VIII. and the Pope on the ques- 
tion of divorce caused the king to assume the headship of the 
Catholic Church in England and to take that church from papal 
control. The first important step was taken in 1531 when the 
clergy were compelled to address Henry as "Head of the Church 
and Clergy so far as the law of Christ will allow." 

The second was the act restraining the payment of annates to 
the pope. The selection given contains a summary of this act. 
Its language should be compared with the other anti-papal 
statutes contained in this chapter. They in turn should be read 
in connection with those given in Chapters XI, XVII, XVIII, 
and XIX. The acts given in these and preceding chapters 
furnish material for the study of the development of the inde- 
pendent Church of England. 

This year also an Act passed, concerning Annates, or the 
First-Fruits of Bishoprics, paid usually to the See of Rome, 
for the obtaining of Palls, Bulls, etc., the Preamble and Con- 
sideration v^hereof was, as appears in the Records, i. The 
great Sums of Money already passed out of the Kingdom 
that Way, being no less than i6o,coo I Sterling, since the 
second Year of Henry VII. 2. That more was likely to be 
shortly transported, by reason many of the Bishops are aged. 
3. That the first Use and Grant of them was for maintaining 
Arms against Infidels. So that it was enacted, That they 
should henceforth cease, and no Money to be paid to Rome 
to that Intent, except as is hereafter specified, viz. Lest the 
Court of Rome should think themselves irremunerated for 
their Pain in making and sealing Bulls in Lead, etc., it was 
ordained, That there may be allowed for the said Bulls Five 
Pounds in the Hundred, according to the Rate of each 
Bishopric's clear Value above all Charges. And if any 
Man, being chosen to a Bishopric, and presented by the 

234 



HENRY VIII. AND THE CHURCH 235 

King to the Pope, shall hereupon find any Lett or Hinder- 
ance, by Restraint of his Bulls, upon convenient Suit for 
the same, then he may be named and presented by the 
King's Highness to the Archbishop of the Province, who 
shall consecrate him; or, the said Archbishop delaying, 
under Pretence of wanting Pall, Bull, etc., the Person so 
named shall be consecrated, and invested by any two Bishops 
of the Land whom the King shall appoint thereto; and shall 
be held and reputed thereafter as a compleat Bishop. But 
of this Act we shall speak again, when we come to the 25th 
Year of the King : For though it passed the Parliament now, 
and the King gave his Assent thereto, yet Power was re- 
served for him to annul or confirm the same any Time within 
two Years next following. 

Moreover, in this Statute, the King and his Parliament de- 
clare. That they do not intend to use any Extremity or 
Molence, before gentle and courteous Ways have been at- 
tempted : But it shall please the King to propose an amicable 
Composition to the Pope, and his Holliness shall be content 
either to abolish or moderate those Annates, then the Com- 
positions, so made, to stand firm : But if, under the said 
amicable Propositions, the Realm cannot be disburdened, and 
that, for the Continuance of the same, the Pope shall un- 
justly vex and disquiet the King or his Subjects by any Ex- 
communication, etc., be it then enacted, by the Authority 
aforesaid. That the King's Highness, his Heirs and Succes- 
sors, Kings of England, and all his Spiritual and Lay Sub- 
jects of the same, without any Scruple of Conscience,^ shall 
and may lawfully, to the Honour of Almighty God, the In- 
crease and Continuance of Virtue and good Example within 
this Realm (the said Censures, Excommunications, Inter- 
dictions, Compulsories, or any of them, notwithstanding), 
minister, or cause to be ministered, throughout this said Re- 
alm, and all other the Dominions and Territories belonging 
or appertaining thereunto, all and all Manner of Sacraments, 
Sacramentals, Ceremonies, or other Divine Service of Holy 
Church, or any other Thing or Things necessary for the 
Health of the Soul of Mankind, as they heretofore, at any 
Time or Times, have been virtuously used or accustomed to 
do within the same. And that no Manner of such Censures, 
Excommunications, Interdictions, or any other Process or 
Compulsories shall by any of the Prelates, or other Spiritual 
Fathers of this Realm, nor by any of their Ministers or 



236 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

Substitutes, be at any Time or Times hereafter published, 
executed, or divulged, in any Manner of Ways. 

{Parliamentary History, ed. cit., Ill, p. 88.) 

108. Appeals to Rome prohibited 

(1533) 

Parliamejitary History 

The following Act was a further severance of the Church of 
England from the domination of the See of Rome, restraining 
the Canonical Courts from carrying appeals to the Pope. The 
terse comment at the end, written by the author of the portion 
of the History from which the Act is quoted, well sums up the 
motive for the action taken. 

That no Appeals should be made out of this Realm for 
these Reasons, viz. That whereas the Kingdom of England 
was a just Empire, furnished with such able Persons, both 
Spiritual and Temporal, as could decide all Controversies 
arising in it : And whereas Edward I. Edward III. Richard 
II. Henry IV. and other Kings of this Realm, had made 
sundry Ordinances, Laws, and Statutes, for the Conservation 
of the Prerogative, Liberties, and Pre-eminences of the said 
Imperial Crown, and of the Jurisdictions Spiritual and Tem- 
poral of the same, to keep it from the Annoyance of the See 
of Rome, as also from the Authority of other foreign 
Potentates attempting the Diminution or Violation thereof: 
And because, notwithstanding the said Acts, divers Appeals 
have been sued to the See of Rome in Causes Testamentary, 
Causes of Matrimony and Divorce, Right of Tythes, Ob- 
lations and Obvertions, to the great Vexation and Charge 
of the King's Highness and his Subjects, and the Delay of 
Justice; and forasmuch as the Distance of the Way to Rome 
is such, as the necessary Proofs and true Knowledge of the 
Cause cannot be brought thither, and represented so well as 
in this Kingdom, and that therefore many Persons be with- 
out Remedy, it is therefore enacted, That all Causes Testa- 
mentary, Causes of Matrimony and Divorces, Tythes, Obla- 
tions, and Obventions, either commenced or depending form- 
erly, or which hereafter shall commence in any of the 
King's Dominions, shall be heard, discussed, and definitively 
determined within the King's Jurisdiction and Authority in 
the Courts Spiritual and Temporal of the same, any foreign 
Inhibition or Restraints to the contrary notwithstanding: So 
that, any Excommunication or Interdiction on this Occasion 
should follow from that See, the Prelates and Clergy of this 



HENRY VIII. AND THE CHURCH 2^7 

Realm should administer Sacraments, and say Divine Serv- 
ice, and do all other their Duties, as formerly hath been 
used, upon Penalty of One Year's Imprisonment, and Fine at 
the King's Pleasure ; and they who procured the said Sen- 
tences should fall into a Prcemunirc. As for the Orders to 
be observed henceforth, it was enacted, That in Suits com- 
menced before the Arch-Deacon or his Officials, Appeal 
might be made to the Bishop of the said See ; and from 
thence, within fifteen Days, to the Archbishop of Canter- 
bury, or Archbishop of York, respectively in their Provinces, 
and so likewise to the Archbishops in the King's other Do- 
minions. Or if Suit be commenced before the Arch-Deacon 
or any Archbishop or his Commissaries, then appeal may be 
made within fifteen Days to the Court of Arches, and so to 
the Archbishops without further Appeal : In all which Cases 
the Prerogative of the Archbishop and Church of Canter- 
bury was reserved. That if any Suit arose betwix the King 
and his Subjects, Appeal might be made within fifteen Days 
to the Prelates of the Upper House in the Convocation then 
sitting, or next called by the King's Writ, there to be finally 
determined: And that they who shall take out any Appeal 
contrary to the Effect of this Act, or refuse to obey it, they, 
their Adherents, and Counsellors, shall incur the Penalty 
of the Statute of 16 Richard II. — And it is natural to sup- 
pose, that the Spirituality, finding the Power, invested for- 
merly in the Pope, to be devolved now in great part on them, 
did more easily suffer the Diminution of Papal Authority. 

{Parliamentary History, e4» cil., Ill, p. 93.) 

109. Henry's Attitude toward Heretics 

(25 Henry VIII., c. 14, 1533-34) 

Stattitei at Large of England 

Henry's laws against heretics were intended to strike a blow 
at the exercise of the papal power in England, but they also 
show that his antagonism was against the headship of the Pope 
and not against the prevailing faith. To Henry, the Church 
of Rome was the true Church ; he cherished the idea that he 
could in England take the place hitherto held by the Pope, and 
yet preserve the doctrines of the Church in their entirety. He 
was therefore as severe in his enactments against heretics as in 
those against traitors. 

AN ACT FOR PUNISHMENT OF HERESY 

I. (Preamble.) 

II. And nevertheless forasmuch as the most foul and de- 
testable crime of heresy should not hereafter grow and in- 



238 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

crease, but utterly be abhorred, detested, and eradicate, nor 
that any heretics should be favoured, but that they should 
have condign and sufficient punishment, and for the repres- 
sion of heretics and such erroneous opinions in time coming : 
be it established, ordained, and enacted by the authority of 
this present Parliament, that the statute made in the fifth 
year of your noble progenitor King Richard the Second, and 
the statute made in the second year of King Henry the Fifth 
[Fourth], concerning punishment and reformation of Here- 
tics and Lollards, and every provision therein contained, not 
being repugnant to this Act, shall be, and stand, in their 
force, strength, and effect. 

Sheriffs in their turns, and Stewards in their leets, rapes, 
and wapentakes, shall have authority to inquire of heretics; 
and every such presentment made in any turn, leet, etc., con- 
cerning heretics, shall be certified to the Ordinary, Every 
person presented or indicted of any heresy, or duly accused 
by two lawful witnesses, may be cited, arrested, or taken by 
an Ordinary, or other of the King's subjects, and committed 
to the Ordinary, to answer in open court, and being convicted 
shall abjure his heresies, and refusing so to do, or falling 
into relapse, shall be burned in an open place for example of 
others. 

in.— VI. 

VH. And where the great number of the King's subjects 
having little or no knowledge of letters have been put in opin- 
ion, that by divers laws, decrees, ordinances, and constitu- 
tions heretofore made by the bishop of Rome, called the Pope, 
and his predecessors, or by their authorities, for the ad- 
vancement of their worldly glory and ambition, every man 
that in any thing speaketh or doth against the said pre- 
tended power or authority of the same bishop of Rome, or 
any of the said laws, decrees, ordinances, and constitutions, 
standeth in danger and is impeachable of heresy; which ef- 
fect or matter, nor any such laws, decrees, ordinances, or 
constitutions, not approved and confirmed by Holy Scripture, 
was never commonly accepted or confirmed to be any law of 
God or man within this realm. "No speaking, doing, com- 
munication, or holding against the Pope, nor any speaking, 
doing, communication, or holding against any laws called 
spiritual laws, made by authority of the See of Rome, re- 
pugnant to the laws and statutes of this realm or the King's 
prerogative royal, shall be reputed heresy, or punishable as 
such. "Persons accused or indicted of heresy may be let to 



f HENRY VIII. AND THE CHURCH 239 

bail by the Ordinaries, or by two justices of peace, except 
the Ordinary declare to the King's Council a reasonable 
cause why they should not be bailed." 

(Ed. from Stattites at Large of England and Great Britain, Lond., 1811. 

HI, p. 156.) 

HO. Submission of the Clergy 

(25 Henry VIII., c. 19, 1533-34) 

In the following Act, Henry practically assumes dominion 
over the English Church. Sections I, II. and VII were recited 
in a later Act and continued for three years. Later again, 
similar provisions were made, to endure for the life of the king. 
The effect of these enactments was to legally vest in the king 
that appellate jurisdiction which had hitherto been the prero- 
gative of the Pope, and to abolish the control of convocations 
over ecclesiastical affairs. 



AN ACT FOR THE SUBMISSION OF THE CLERGY TO THE KINGS 

MAJESTY 

I. Where the King's humble and obedient subjects, the 
clergy of this realm of England, have not only acknowledged 
according to the truth, that the convocations of the same 
clergy are always, hath been, and ought to be, assembled only 
by the King's writ, but also submitting themselves to the 
King's Majesty, have promised in vcrho saccrdocii that they 
will never from henceforth presume to attempt, allege, claim, 
or put in use, or enact, promulgate or execute any new can- 
ons, constitutions, ordinance provincial or other, or by what- 
soever other name they shall be called in the convocation, 
unless the King's most royal assent and license may to them 
be had, to make, promulgate, and execute the same, and that 
his Majesty do give his most royal assent and authority in 
that behalf: And whereas divers constitutions, ordinances, 
and canons, provincial or synodal, which heretofore have 
been enacted, and be thought not only to be much preju- 
dicial to the King's prerogative royal, and repugnant to the 
laws and statutes of this realm, but also overmuch onerous 
to his Highness and his subjects; the said clergy have most 
humbly besought the King's Highness that the said con- 
stitutions and canons may be committed to the examination 
and judgment of his Highness, and oi two-and-thirty per- 
sons of the King's subjects, whereof sixteen to be of the 
Upper and Nether House of the Parliament of the tempo- 
ralty, and the other sixteen to be of the clergy of this realm ; 
and all the said two-and-thirty persons to be chosen and 



240 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

appointed by the King's Majesty; and that such of the said 
constitutions and canons as shall be thought and determined 
by the said two-and-thirty persons, or the more part of them, 
worthy to be abrogated and annulled, shall be abolished and 
made of no value accordingly; and such other of the same 
constitutions and canons as by the said two-and-thirty, or 
the more part of them, shall be approved to stand with the 
laws of God and consonant to the laws of this realm, shall 
stand in their full strength and power, the King's most royal 
assent being first had and obtained to the same : Be it there- 
fore now enacted by authority of this present Parliament 
according to the said submission and petition of the said 
clergy, that they, nor any of them from henceforth, shall 
presume to attempt, allege, claim, or put in use any constitu- 
tions or ordinance, provincial or synodal, or any other can- 
ons, nor shall enact, promulgate, or execute any such canons, 
constitutions, or ordinances provincial, by whatsoever name 
or names they may be called, in their convocations in time 
coming (which always shall be assembled by authority of 
the King's writ) unless the same clergy may have the King's 
most royal assent and license to make, promulgate, and 
execute such canons, constitutions, and ordinances, provin- 
cial or synodal ; upon pain of every one of the said clergy 
doing contrary to this Act, and being thereof convicted, to 
suffer imprisonment, and make fine at the King's will. 

11. And forasmuch as such canons, constitutions, and or- 
dinances, as heretofore have been made by the clergy of this 
realm, cannot now at the session of this present Parliament, 
by reason of shortness of time, be viewed, examined, and 
determined by the King's Highness and thirtj^'-two persons 
to be chosen and appointed according to the petition of the 
said clergy in form above rehearsed; Be it therefore enacted 
by authority aforesaid, That the King's Highness shall have 
power and authority to nominate and assign, at his pleasure, 
the said two-and-thirty persons of his subjects, whereof six- 
teen [are] to be of the clergy and sixteen to be of the tempo- 
ralty of the Upper and Nether House of the Parliament ; and 
if any of the said two-and thirty persons so chosen shall hap- 
pen to die before their full determination, then his Highness 
to nominate other from time to time of the said two Houses 
of the Parliament, to supply the number of the said two-and- 
thirty; and that the same two-and-thirty, by his Highness 
-SO to be named, shall have power and authority to view, 
search, and examine the said canons, constitutions, and or- 



HENRY JUL AND THE CHURCH 241' 

dinances, provincial and synodal heretofore made ; and such 
of them as the King's Highness and the said two-and-thirty, 
or the more part of them, shall deem and adjudge worthy to 
be continued, kept, and obeyed, shall be from thenceforth 
kept, obeyed, and executed within this realm, so that the 
King's most royal assent under his great seal be first had 
to the same ; and the residue of the said canons, constitu- 
tions, and ordinances provincial which the King's Highness, 
and the said two-and-thirty persons, or the more part of 
them, shall not approve, or deem and judge worthy to be 
abolished, abrogated, and made frustrate, shall from thence- 
forth be void and of none effect, and never be put in execu- 
tion within this realm. Provided always. That no canons, 
constitutions, or ordinances shall be made or put in execution 
within this realm by authority of the convocation of the 
clergy, which shall be contrary or repugnant to the King's 
prerogative royal, or the customs, laws, or statutes of this 
realm ; anything contained in this Act to the contrary hereof 
notwithstanding. 

HI. And be it further enacted by authority aforesaid. 
That from the feast of Easter, which shall be in the year of 
our Lord God one thousand five hundred and thirty-four, no 
manner of appeals shall be provoked or made out of this 
realm, or out of any of the King's dominions, to the bishop of 
Rome, nor to the See of Rome, in any causes or matters 
happening to be in contention, and having their commence- 
ment and beginning in any of the courts within this realm, 
or within any of the King's dominions, of what nature, con- 
dition, or quality soever they be of ; but that all manner of 
appeals, of what nature or condition soever they be of, or 
what cause or matter soever the}^ concern, shall be made and 
had by the parties aggrieved or having cause of appeal, 
after such manner, form, and condition as is limited for 
appeals to be had and prosecuted within this realm in causes 
of matrimony, tithes, oblations, and obventions. by a statute 
thereof made and established since the beginning of this 
present Parliament, and according to the form and effect 
of the said statute ; and usage, custom, prescription, or any 
thing or things to the contrary hereof notwithstanding. 

IV. And for lack of justice at or in any the courts of 
the archbishops of this realm, or in any the King's do- 
minions, it shall be lawful to the parties grieved, to appeal 
to the King's Majesty in the King's Court of Chancery: and 
that upon every such appeal, a commission shall be directed 



242 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

under the Great Seal to such persons as shall be named by 
the King's Highness, his heirs or successors, like as in case 
of appeal from the Admiral's Court, to hear and definitively 
determine such appeals, and the causes concerning the same : 
Which commissioners, so by the King's Highness, his heirs 
or successors, to be named or appointed, shall have full 
power and authority to hear and definitively determine every 
such appeal, with the causes and all circumstances concern- 
ing the same; and that such judgment and sentence as the 
said commissioners shall make and decree in and upon any 
such appeal shall be good and effectual, and also definitive; 
and no further appeals to be had or made from the said com- 
missioners for the same. 

V. And if any person or persons, at any timiC after the 
said feast of Easter, provoke or sue any manner of appeals, 
of what nature or condition soever they be, to the said bishop 
of Rome, or to the See of Rome, or do procure or execute 
any manner of process from the See of Rome, or by authority 
thereof, to the derogation or let of the due execution of this 
Act, or contrary to the same, that then every such person or 
persons so doing, their aiders, councillors, and abettors, shall 
incur and run into the dangers, pains, and penalties con- 
tained and limited in the Act of Provision and PrcBmunire 
made in the sixteenth year of the King's most noble pro- 
genitor. King Richard the Second, against such as sue to the 
court of Rome against the King's crown and prerogative 
royal. 

VI. Provided always. That all manner of provocations and 
appeals hereafter to be had, made, or taken from the juris- 
diction of any abbots, priors, or other heads and governors of 
monasteries, abbeys, priories, and other houses and places 
exempt, in such cases as they were wont or might afore 
the making of this Act, by reason of grants or liberties of 
such places exempt, to have or make immediately any appeal 
of provocation to the bishop of Rome, otherwise called Pope, 
or to the See of Rome, that in all these cases every person 
and persons, having cause of appeal or provocation, shall 
and may take and make their appeals and provocations im- 
mediately to the King's Majesty of this realm, into the Court 
of Chancery, in like manner and form as thev used afore to 
do to the See of Rome ; which appeals and provocations so 
made shall be definitively determined by authority of the 
King's commission, in such manner and form as in this Act 
is above-mentioned ; so that no archbishop nor bishop of this 



HENRY VIII. AND THE CHURCH ±43 

realm shall intermit or meddle with any such appeals, other- 
wise or in any other manner than they might have done be- 
fore the making of this Act; any thing in this Act to the 
contrary thereof notwithstanding. 

VII. Provided also, That such canons, constitutions, or- 
dinances, and synodals provincial being already made, which 
be not contrary or repugnant to the laws, statutes, and cus- 
toms of this realm, nor to the damage or hurt of the King's 
prerogative royal, shall now still be used and executed as 
they were before the making of this Act, till such time as 
they be viewed, searched, or otherwise ordered or determined 
by the said two-and-thirty persons, or the more part of them, 
according to the tenor, form, and effect of this Present Act. 

(Ed. from Statutes at Large, ed. cit., Ill, p. 162.) 

HI. The Act of Supremacy 

(26 Henry VIII, c. i, 1535) 

Statutes at Large of England 

The Act of Supremacy was little more than an ex post facto 
announcement, yet it had far-reaching effect. It left no ground 
for retreat ; the position so assumed must be at all hazards 
maintained. 

THE king's grace TO BE ACKNOWLEDGED SUPREME HEAD 

Albeit the king's majesty justly and rightfully is and 
ought to be the supreme head of the church of England, and 
so is recognized by the clergy of this realm in their con- 
vocations, yet nevertheless for corroboration and confirma- 
tion thereof, and for increase of virtue in Christ's religion 
within this realm of England, and to repress and extirp all 
errors, heresies, and other enormities and abuses heretofore 
used in the same : Be it enacted by authority of this present 
Parliament, that the king our sovereign lord, his heirs and 
successors kings of this realm, shall be taken, accepted, and 
reputed the only supreme head in earth of the Church of Eng- 
land, called Anglicana Ecclcsia; and shall have and enjoy, 
annexed and united to the imperial crown of this realm, as 
well the title and style thereof, as all honours, dignities, pre- 
eminencies, jurisdictions, privileges, authorities, immunities, 
profits, and commodities, to the said dignity of supreme head 
of the same church belonging and appertaining. 

And that our said sovereign lord, his heirs and successors 
kings of this realm, shall have full power and authority from 
time to time to visit, repress, redress, reform, order, correct, 
restrain, and amend all such errors, heresies, abuses, of- 



244 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

fences, contempts, and enormities, whatsoever they be, which 
by any manner spiritual authority ought or may lawfully be 
reformed, repressed, ordered, redressed, corrected, restrained, 
or amended, most to the pleasure of Almighty God, the in- 
crease of virtue in Christ's religion, and for the conservation 
of the peace, unity, and tranquillity of this realm ; and usage, 
custom, foreign laws, foreign authority, prescription, or any 
otlier thing or things to the contrary hereof notwithstanding. 

(Ed. from Stat7ites at Large, ed. cit., Ill, p. 1S7.) 



112. Denial of the Authority of the Pope 

(28 Henry VIII., c. 10, 1536-37) 

Statutes at Large of England 

The absolute renunciation of all allegiance to the See of Rome 
was the natural corollary to the Act of Supremacy, and the Act 
containing this renunciation is one of the shortest in the statute 
books. Yet its meaning was unmistakable, and it gave promise 
of stern determination. The Act was repealed by the general 
words of I and II. Philip and Mary, c. VIII ; but it was after- 
ward practically re-affirmed by Elizabeth. 



AN ACT EXTINGUISHING THE AUTHORITY OF THE BISHOP OF 

ROME 

If any person shall extol the authority of the bishop of 
Rome, he shall incur the penalty of prcBiminire provided by 
Stat. 16 R. 2 c. 5. Every ecclesiastical and lay officer shall 
be sworn to renounce the said bishop and his authority, and 
to resist it to his power, and to repute any oath taken in 
maintenance of the said bishop, or his authority, to be void; 
and the refusing of the said oath, being tendered, shall be 
adjudged high treason. 

(Ed. from Statutes at Large, ed. cit., Ill, p. 262.) 



113. The Dissolution of the Monasteries 

(27 Henry VIII, c. 28, 1535-36) 

Statutes at Large of England 

The dissolution of the lesser monasteries was a severe blow 
to the Church of Rome. The following Act sets forth the reasons 
assigned for the suppression ^of these houses, as well as the de- 
termination that they shall be suppressed. It will be noted that 
the greater monasteries are highly spoken of; the good faith of 
the statements can be judged by the subsequent destruction of 
the last citadels of the old faith. 



HENRY VIII. AND THE CHURCH 245 

AN ACT THAT ALL RELIGIOUS HOUSES UNDER THE YEARLY 
REVENUE OF TWO HUNDRED POUNDS SHALL BE DISSOLVED 
AND GIVEN TO THE KING AND HIS HEIRS. 

"Forasmuch as manifest synne, vicious, carnal, and abom- 
inable Living is daily used and committed commonly in such 
little and small Abbeys, Priories, and other Religious Houses 
of Monks, Canons, and Nuns, where the Congregation of 
such Religious Persons is under the Number of twelve Per- 
sons, whereby the Governors of such Religios Houses and 
their Covent spoyle, destroye, consume, and utterly waste, 
as well their Churches, Monasteries, Priories, principal 
Houses, Farms, Granges, Lands, Tenements, and Heridita- 
ments, as the Ornaments of their Churches, and their Goods 
and Chattels, to the high Displeasure of Almighty God, 
Slander of good Religion, and to the great Infamy of the 
King's Highness and the Realm, if Redress should not be had 
thereof. And albeit that many continual Visitations hath 
been heretofore had, by the Space of two hundred Years 
and more, for an honest and charitable Reformation of such 
unthrifty, carnal, and abominable living, yet nevertheless 
little or none amendment is hitherto had, but their vicious 
living shamelessly increaseth and augmenteth, and by a 
cursed Custom so rooted and infected, that a great Multitude 
of the Religious Persons in such small Houses do rather 
choose to rove abroad in Apostacy, than to conform them- 
selves to the Observation of good Religion ; so that, without 
such small Houses be utterly suppressed, and the Religious 
Persons therein committed to great and honourable Monas- 
teries of Religion in this Realm, where they may be com- 
pelled to live religiously, for Reformation of their lives, the 
same else be no Redress nor Reformation in that Behalf. In 
Consideration whereof, the King's most Royal Majesty being 
supreme Head on Earth, under God, of the Church of Eng- 
land, dayly studying and devysing the Increase, Advance- 
ment, and Exaltation of true Doctrine and Virtue in the said 
Church, to the only Glory and Honour of God, and the total 
extirping and Dystruction of Vice and Sin, having Knowl- 
edge that the Premises be true, as well by the Accompts of 
his late Visitations, as by sundry credible Informations, 
considering also that diverse and great solemn Monasteries 
of this Realm, wherein (Thanks be to God) Religion is 
right well kept and observed, be destitute of such full Num- 
ber of Religious Persons, as they ought and may keep, hath 



246 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

thought good that a plain Declaration should be made of 
the Premisses, as well to the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, 
as to other his loving Subjects the Commons, in this present 
Parliament assembled: Whereupon the said Lords and 
Commons, by a great Deliberation, finally be resolved, that 
it is and shall be much more to the Pleasure of Almighty 
God, and for the Honour of this his Realm, that the Pos- 
sessions of such small Religious Houses, now being spent, 
spoiled, and wasted for Increase and Maintenance of Sin, 
should be used and committed to better Uses, and the un- 
thrifty Religious Persons, so spending the same, to be com- 
pelled to reform their Lives." And thereupon most humbly 
desire the King's Highness that it may be enacted by Au- 
thority of this present Parliament, That his Majesty shall 
have and enjoy to him and his Heirs for ever, all and singu- 
lar such Monasteries, Priories, and other Religious Houses 
of Monks, Canons, and Nuns, of what kinds of Diversities 
of Habits, Rules, or Order soever they be called or named, 
which have not in Lands, Tenements, Rents, Tithes, Por- 
tions, and other Hereditaments above the clear yearly Value 
of two hundred Pounds. And in like manner shall have and 
enjoy all the Sites and Circuits of every such Religious 
Houses, and all and singular the Manors, Granges, Meases, 
Lands, Tenements, Rents, Reversions, Services , Tithes, Pen- 
sions, Portions, Churches, Chapels, Advowsons, Patronages, 
Annuities, Rights, Entries, Conditions, and other Heredita- 
ments appertaining or belonging to every such Monastery, 
Priory, or other Religious House, not having, as is afore 
said, above the said clear yearly Value of two hundred 
Pound, in as large and ample manner as the Abbots, Priors, 
Abbesses, Prioresses, and other Governors of such Monas- 
teries, Priories, and other Religious Houses now have or 
ought to have the same in the right of their Houses. And 
that also his Highness shall have to him and to his Heirs 
all and singular such Monasteries, Abbeys, and Priories 
which at any Time within one Year next before the making of 
this Act hath been given and granted to his Majesty by any 
Abbot, Prior, Abbess, or Prioress, under their Covent Seals, 
or that otherwise hath been suppressed or dissolved, and all 
and singular the Manors, Lands, Tenements, Rents, Services, 
Reversions, Tithes, Pensions, Portions, Churches, Chapels, 
Advowsons, Patronages, Rights, Entries, Conditions, and all 
0^1 er Interests and Hereditaments to the same Monasteries, 
Abbeys, and Priories, or to any of them appertaining or be- 



HENRY VIII. AND THE CHURCH 247 

longing; to have and to hold all and singular the Premisses 
with all their Rights, Jurisdictions, and Commodities, unto 
the King's Majesty, and his Heirs and Assigns for ever, to 
do and use therewith his and their own Wills, to the Pleasure 
of Almighty God, and to the Honour and Profit of this 

Realm. (Ed. from StatMies at Large, ed. cit., Ill, p. 256.) 

114. Confession made with Surrender of a Monastery 

Records, Burnet 

When the monasteries were surrendered, their heads were in- 
duced by promises or threats to make confessions justifying the 
action of the king. The document given is typical of the rest, 
and its veracity is at least questionable, however the falsehood 
n^.ay have been excused by the necessities of the case. 

Forasmuch as we, Richard Green, abbot of our monastery 
of our blessed Lady St. Mary of Betlesden, and the convent 
of the said monastery, do profoundly consider. That the 
whole manner and trade of living, which we and our pre- 
tensed religion have practised, and used many days, does 
most principally consist in certain dumb ceremonies, and 
other certain constitutions of the bishops of Rome, and other 
forinsecal potentates, as the abbot of Cistins, and therein only 
noseled, and not taught in the true knowledge of God's 
laws, procuring always exemptions of the bishops of Rome 
from our ordinaries and diocesans : submitting ourselves 
principally to forinsecal potentates and powers, which never 
came here to reform such disorders of living and abuses, as 
now have been found to have reigned among us. And there- 
fore now assuredly knowing, that the most perfect way of 
living is principally and sufficiently declared unto us by our 
master Christ, his evangelists and apostles, and that it is 
most expedient for us to be governed and ordered by our 
Supreme Head, under God, the king's most noble grace, with 
our mutual assent and consent, submit ourselves, and every 
one of us, to the most benign mercy of the king's majesty; 
and by these presents do surrender, etc. 

(Collection of Records in vol. II, p. LXVII, History 0/ the Reformation 0/ the 
Church 0/ England, G. Burnet, Lond., i88o.> 

115. Directions for Visitation of Monasteries 

Records, Rurnet 

Before a religious house was suppressed it was visited and 
inspected. The general directions to the king's agents are given 
in the important document given below. This is presented in 
full because of its great value in describing the ideal manage- 



248 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

ment of a monastery and its implication of prevailing irregulari- 
ties. 

INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE GENERAL VISITATION OF THE 
MONASTERIES 

Articuli Regice Inqisitionis, in Monastic am vitam agent es, 
exponendi, et prcecipue in exemptos a jnrisdictione Diocce- 
sana, jam tantum Regice Majestati et ejus jnrisdictioni sub- 
ditos et suhjectos, ac hiijus inclyti siii Regni Stattitis et legi- 
hiis, nullisq; aliis penitus, obnoxios et astrictos. 

1. In primis, Whether divine service be solemnly sung, 
said, observed, and kept, in this monastery, according to the 
number and the abilities thereof, by night and by day, in due 
time and hours? and how many be present commonly at 
mattins, and other service, and vv^ho be absent, and so accus- 
tomed to be, without cause or sickness ? 

2. Item, How many monks, canons regulars, or nuns, be 
within this monastery, and how many there ought to be, 
and whether the number be complete according to the foun- 
der's will, or the statutes, ordinances, and laudible custom of 
this house; and whether the number be augmented or dimin- 
ished now of late? 

3. Item, Who were the first founders of this house? 

Fundationem primam, secitndam, tertiam, et qtiot- 
qnot habent, exhibeant. 

4. Item, Whether this house hath had any increase of 
lands given to it sithence the first foundation thereof? by 
whom? by how many? and when? 

5. Item, To what sum of money those revenues and 
rents of this house do extend and amount unto yearly. 

6. Item, Whether this house was ever translated from 
one habit and order to another? by whose authority? and 
for what cause ? 

Translationem exhibeant. 

7. Item, How the lands and possessions appertaining unto 
this monastery, given by the first founder, and all other 
lands given sithence the first foundation, were granted, 
given, and established, and so first brought to morte main? 
whether by the only authority of the giver, or by the author- 
ization of the prince for that time reigning, and by what 
tenor and form ye hold them? 

Donationem et C onfirmationem exhibeant. 



HENRY VIII. AND THE CHURCH ' 249 

8. Item, What evidence have you to show for all and sin- 
gular your lands, manors, tenements, and other your possesv 
sons mortisate, and given unto you, and this your monas^ 
tery ? 

9. Item, Wherefore, for what causes and considerations 
ye were exempt from your diocesan? and what was your 
suggestion and motive at the obtaining of your said exemp- 
tion? 

Exemptionem exhibeant. 

10. Item, Whether ye have any private, peculiar, or local 
statutes, confirmations, ordinances, or rules, made only for 
the behoof, good order, and singular weal of this house, be- 
sides the rules of your profession? and whether they were 
made either by your founders before your exemption, or by 
the good fathers of this house, with the whole consent of the 
brethren, being sinneth your exemption ; to what use they 
were made, and how ye observe them? 

Statuta ilia localia, et alia quotquot hahent, exhibeant. 

11. Item, By what way and form the master of this house 
was elected and chosen? And whether all the brethren 
having, or ought to have by the law, statutes, or laudable 
custom of this house, voices in the election, were present 
in the same election, or lawfully called or cited to it? 

12. Item, Whether any persons excommunicate, suspended, 
or interdicted, did give voices in the same election ? 

13. Item, Within what time after the election was made 
and done, the master of this house was confirmed? and by 
whom ? 

14. Item, Whether unto the confirmation, all that had in- 
terest, or that would object against the same, were lawfully 
cited, monished, and called? 

Exhibeat Electionem, Confirmationem; et Titii- 
lum sua I ncumb entice. 

15. Item, What rule the master of this house, and other 
the brethren, do profess? 

16. Item, How many be professed, and how many be 
novices; and whether the novices have like habit, or use to 
wear an habit distinct from the habit of the brethren pro- 
fessed ? 

17. Item, Whether ye do use to profess your novices in due 



250 SDCRCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

time, and within what time and space after they have taken 
the habit upon them? 

i8. Item, Whether the brethren of this house do know the 
rule that they have professed, and whether they keep their 
profession according to that their rule and custom of this 
house; an in especial, the three substantial and principal 
vows, that is to say, pove^'ty, chastity, and obedience. 

19. Item, Whether any of the brethren use any propriety 
of money or of plate in their chambers ; or of any other 
manner thing unwarre of the master, and without his knowl- 
edge and license, or by his sufferance and knowledge? and 
for what cause? 

20. ) 

21. >- [These relate to questions of chastity.] 

22. ) 

23. Item, Whether the brethren of this house keep their 
obedience, being ready at their master's commandment, in 
all things honest, lawful, and reasonable? 

Sequuntiir Regulcu Cceremoniales. 

24. Item, Whether ye do keep silence in the church, 
cloister, fraitry, and dormitory, at the hours and time spe- 
cified in your rule? 

25. Item, Whether ye do keep fasting and abstinence, ac- 
cording to your rules, statutes, ordinances, and laudable 
customs of this house ? 

26. Item, Whether ye abstain from flesh in time of Ad- 
vent, and other times declared and specified by the law, rules, 
and laudable customs of this house ? 

2y. Item, Whether ye wear shirts and sheets of woollen, 
or that ye have any constitution, ordinance, or dispensation, 
granted or made to the contrary, by sufficient and lawful 
authority ? 

Profitentes Regulam Benedicti quam arctissime 
tenentiir ad prcudicta Cceremonialia obser- 
vanda. 

28. Item, Whether ye do sleep altogether in the dormitory, 
under one roof, or not? 

29. Item, Whether ye have all separate beds, or any one 
of you doth lay with another? 

30. Item, Whether ye do keep the fraitry at meals, so 
that two parts, or the least, the two part of the whole 



HENRY VIII. AND THE CHURCH 251 

covent be always there, unless the master at every one time 
dispense with you to the contrary? 

31. Item, Whether, ye do wear your religious habit con- 
tinually, and never leave it off but when ye go to bed? 

2^2. Item, Whether every brethren of this house have 
lightly departed hence, and hath gone to any other house of 
like order and profession, without special letters and license 
of their master? 

33. Item, Whether the master and brethren of this house 
have received and admitted any brother of another house, 
without special license and letters of his master and head? 

34. Item, Whether any of you, sithence the time of your 
profession, hath gone out of this house to his friends, or 
otherwise? 

35. Item, How oftimes he did so, and how long at every 
time ye tarried forth ? 

36. Item, W^hether ye had special license of your master 
so to go forth, or not? 

37. Item, Whether at every time of your being forth, ye 
changed or left off your habit, or every part thereof? 

38. Item, Whether ye, or any of you be, or hath been, in 
manifest apostacy, that is to say, fugitives or vagabonds? 

39. Item, For what cause or occasion ye have so gone 
forth and been in apostacy ? and whether the cause of your 
going forth was by reason of the great cruelty of your 
master, or by his negligence, not calling you home to your 
cloister? 

40. Item, W^hether ye be weekly shaven, and do not 
nourish or suffer your hair to be long? and whether ye 
wear your apparel according to the rule, not too excessive 
nor too exquisite ; and in likewise the trappos of your horses, 
and other your bearing beasts? 

41. Item, Whether the master and head of this house do 
use his brethren charitably, without partiality, malice, envy, 
grudge, or displeasure, more showed to one than to another? 

42. Item, Whether he do use his disciplines, corrections, 
and punishments upon his brethren, with mercy, pity, and 
charity, without cruelty, rigorousness, and enormous hurt, 
no more favouring one than another? 

43. Item, Whether any brother, or religious person of this 
house, be incorrigible ? 

44. Item, Whether the master of this house do use his 
brethren charitably when they be sick and diseased? and 
whether in time of their sickness he do procure unto them 
physicians, and all other necessaries? 



252 



SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 



45. Item, Whether he make his accompts (as he ought to 
do) once every year before his brethren, and chiefly the 
seniors and officers, to the intent they may be made privy 
to the state and condition of the house, and know perfectly 
the due administration thereof? 

46. Item, Whether the prior, subprior, sellerar, kitchener, 
terrure, sacristen, or any such like officer, having adminis- 
tration of every manner revenues of this house, do make his 
whole and true accompt, according as he is bound to do, 
not applying anything by him received to his own proper 
use or commodity? 

47. Item, Whether any religious person of this house do 
bear, occupy, or exercise more offices than one, for, and 
to his own singular commodity, advantage, or profit, by the 
partial dealing of the master ? 

48. Item, Whether all and singular the revenues and 
profits of this house be converted and employed to the be- 
hove and use thereof, and of the brethren, according to the 
founder's mind and giver? 

49. Item, Whether the master do make sufficient repara- 
tions upon his monastery, as the church and all other hous- 
ing thereto adjoined, and also upon all other the lands, 
granges, farms, and tenements belonging to the same ; and 
whether he suffer any dilapidation, decay, or ruin in any part 
of them? 

50. Item, Whether there be any inventory made of all and 
singular the moveables, goods, which from time to time have 
been, and yet be in this house, as of jewels, reliques, orna- 
ments, vestiments, ready money, plate, bedding, with other 
utensils ; also of corn, chattels, and other commodities, to the 
intent the state and condition of this house may be always 
known ? 

51. Item, That ye express truly and sincerely the whole 
state and condition of this house, as in money, plate, cattle, 
corn, and other goods? 

52. Item, Whether this monastery be indebted? to whom? 
and for what cause? 

53. Item, Whether any of the lands be sold, or mortgaged? 
and for what sums? 

54. Item, Whether any be let to farm by the master of this 
house for term of years, and for how many years ? and 
specially, whether they be letten for small sums, or for less 
sums than they were wont to be letten for, to the intent to 
have great sums of ready money beforehand? 



HENRY VIII. AND THE CHURCH 253 

55. Item, Whether he do enforce, compel or constrain his 
brethren, or any of them, to consent to the sealing of any 
leases, grants, farm-holds, annuities, corrodies, or any other 
alienations? 

56. Item, Whether the plate and jewels, or any part or 
parcel thereof, or of any other moveable goods of this house 
be laid to pledge, sold, or alienated for a time, or for ever? 
for what cause, and to whom? or otherwise embezzled, or 
consumed? 

57. Item, Whether the master of this house be wont to 
give under his seal or office, or convent-seal, farms, corrodies, 
annuities, or offices, to his kinsfolk, alliances, friends, or 
acquaintances, for term of years, or otherwise, to the hurt, 
hindrance, damage, and impoverishment of this house? 

58. hem. Whether he be wont to grant any patent, or 
convent-seal, without the consent of his brethren? 

59. Item, Whether the convent-seal of this house be surely 
and safely kept under three keys ; that is to say, one remain- 
ing and being in the custody of the master, and the other 
two in the custody of two seniors ? 

60. Item, Whether the muniments and evidences of the 
lands, rents, and revenues of this house, be safely kept from 
vermin and moistness? 

61. Item, Whether the master do keep hospitality accord- 
ing to the ability of his house, and in like manner as other 
fathers hereof have done heretofore ? 

62. Item, Whether the master of this house in receiving 
any novice, being of willing and toward mind to enter into 
religion, hath demanded or received, or convented to receive 
any money, rewards, or any other temporal commodities of 
him so entering, or willing to enter, or of any other his 
friends? and whether for not promising, granting, or giving 
such rewards or gifts, any hath been repelled and not re- 
ceived? 

63. Item, Whether the novices, and other received into 
religion, have a preceptor and master deputed unto them to 
teach them grammar and good letters? 

64. Item, Whether any senior of this house be deputed 
to declare, inform, and instruct them their rules, and where- 
unto they shall be bounden to observe and keep after their 
profession ? 

65. Item, Whether any of you have taken upon him the 
habit and profession of your religion, chiefly for the intent, 
hope, or trust to be made head and master of this house? 



254 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

66. Item, Whether the master of this house, in giving any 
advocation, nomination, presentation, or collation of any 
parsonage, vicarage, chapel, or benefice of the patronage or 
gift of this house, do take or use to take any manner pension, 
portion, or other commodity or gains ; or else doth make any 
convention or compaction, whereby any lucre many ensue 
to him in that behalf? 

67. Item, Whether he do receive, or use to receive, the 
fruits and revenues of every such benefice vacant, or use to 
borrow any money of him to whom he intendeth to give 
such benefice unto, expressly covenanting or intending, that 
he so obtaining the said benefice shall freely and clearly 
remit the said money so borrowed? 

68. Item, What and how many benefices the master of this 
house doth occupy and keep in his own hands ? 

69. Item, Whether the same benefices be appropriate and 
united to this house by sufficient authority? 

70. Item, Whether the master of this house doth make 
distributions amongst the parishioners of the benefices ap- 
propriate, and doth keep and observe all and singular other 
provisions and ordinances specified and expressed in the ap- 
propriations of the same benefices? 

Exhiheant omnes et singulas Appropriationes, 
una cum Ordinationibus et Donationibus Vi- 
cariatuum. 

yi. Item, Whether he do promote unto such benefices as 
be of his gift sufficient and able persons in learning, man- 
ners, and virtue? 

y2. Item, Whether any brother of this house do serve any 
parish-church, being appropriate and united to the same, and 
how many churches appropriate to be so served? 

73. Item, Whether the master of this house hath and pos- 
sesseth any benefice with cure, or any other dignity with his 
abbey ? 

Si aliqiwd tale habet, Dispensationem exhibeat. 

74. Item., Whether the master of this house at any time 
since he was first made abbot, or master, did know or believe 
that he was suspended, or excommunicate, either by the law, 
or by any judge; and whether he knowing or supposing him- 
self so to be, did sing mass in the mean time, and before he 
was absolved? 

In Visitatione Monialium ad PrcBmissa addantur 

hcec. 



HENRY VIIL AND THE CHURCH 255 

75. Item, Whether this monastery hath good and sufficient 
enclosure, and whether the doors and windows be diHgently 
kept shut, so that no man can have any entry into the same 
or any part thereof at inconvenient times? 

Propter quod necessarium erit Visitatori circiim- 
ire Monasterium, ac videre et rimare dis- 
positionem ccdificiontiii, et an sint aliqna loca 
pervia per qiicc secrete iiitrari possit; et una 
seciiin Jiabeat Abbafissain cum duabus aiit 
tribus senioribus Monialibus, a quibus fuiii 
interroget, an ostia Monasterii singulis qui- 
husque noctibus sub clavibus clausa tenean- 
tiir, et qu<r earuui Monialiuni senio confecta- 
rum, vel an Abbas ipsa elavimn custodiam 
tempore nocturno habeant et teneant: nam 
non est tutum clavium custodiam Junioribus 
committere. 

76. hetn, Whether strangers, both men and women, usetli 
commonly to have communication with the sisters of this 
house, without license of the abbess or prioress, especially in 
secret places, and in the absence of their sisters? 

yy. Item, Whether any sister of this house were professed 
for any manner of compulsion of her friends and kinsfolks, 
or by the abbess or prioress? 

78. Item, Whether any of the sisters of this house useth 
to go forth any whither out of the precinct thereof, without 
special license of their abbess or prioress? 

79. Item, Whether any sister doth use her habit con- 
tinually out of her cell ? 

80. Item, Wherein every one of you occupieth herself, be- 
side the time of divine service? 

81. Item, Whether any sister of this house hath any famil- 
iarity with religious men, secular priests, or lay-men, being 
not near of kin unto them ? 

82. Item, Whether any sister of this house hath been 
taken and found with any such accustomably so communing, 
and could not shew any reasonable cause why they so did? 

83. Item, Whether any of you doth use to write any letters 
of love or lascivious fashion to any person, or receive any 
such, or have any privy messengers coming or resorting 
unto you, or any of you, with token or gifts, from any man- 
ner secular person or other? 

84. Item, Whether any of you doth use to speak with any 




256 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

manner of person, by night or by day, by grates or back 
windows, or other privy places within this monastery, with- 
out license of your head? 

85. Itenij Whether the confessor of this house be a dis- 
creet man, of good learning, virtue and honest behaviour, 
of good name and fame, and whether he hath been always so 
taken ? 

86. Item, How oftimes in the year the sisters of this house 
useth to be confessed and communicate? 

Restat pro Ecclesiis Collegiatis, Hospatalibus, Ec- 
clesiis Cathedralihus, Parochialihus, Eccle- 
siis, Episcopo, et Archiepiscopo, pro ordine 
J erosolomitarum f 

Exhiheant omnia scripta, munimenta, Inventaria, Scedu- 
las quascunque, unde aliqnid cognitionis eorum reformationi 
Monasteriorum, sive domorum utilitati, necessaries explicari, 
aut quoquo modo coligi possit. 

(Collection of Records, vol. 11, p. 59. History of the Reformation of the Church 
of Englafid, ed. cited.) 

116. Letters concerning the Suppression of the Monasteries 

Original Letters 

The agents who were sent to suppress the monasteries have 
left many letters detailing their acts in this office. Several 
typical documents are here given. The ancient form of spelling, 
v-ith all the inconsistencies of each writer in this respect, has 
been preserved. 

(a) DR. LONDON TO THE LORD PRIVY SEAL 

Original Letters 

In my most humble maner I have me commendyd unto 
your gudde Lordeschippe. I have with moche adoo dis- 
pacchyde the Priory of Black Monks at Coventrye, the 
Charterhowse, and Combe Abbay. The Priory wasse in dett 
befor he com ther, and he hathe made me an apparent rea- 
sonable accompte. I have left the Churche and Howse vn- 
spoylede and vndefacyd, because as yet I do nott know the 
Kings Grace's pleasur and yowrs what schalbe don ther- 
with. At the Charter howse I found scase the valor of xx^i 
nobles worth of gudds to dispach the hole Howse. Howbeit 
Godde hath so disclosyd ther crafty dealing, that I have 
gevyn every brodor xl^ towards ther apparell, have payd all 
the servants wages, have gevyn to every brodor his. . ,celle. 



HENRY J'lII. AND THE CHURCH 257 

saving the Howse and a vestyment, have payde all ther 
detts within x^^, and yit schall the Kings Grace have above 
cc. vnc. of plate ther, wher I found but iij. chalyces scasly 
waying all iij. xl. vnc. I have gevin the Prior a salt of 
syluer with a cover, a drynking cuppe of syluer with a 
cover, a maser, a chales, a suyte of vestyments with bedding 
and other stuff, lyke an hpnest man, and so I have dis- 
pacchyd that House clerlye. 

At Combe, I have left the hole Howse with implyments 
vnspoyled thorowlye. Hardforde now schyryue of Coven- 
trye informyd me that the x\bbot of Combe hadde ccccc''. in 
a fetherbedd at hys brodors Howse. Of truythe I serchyd 
the bedd, and the Abbot hymself, with owt any difficulty, 
confessed unto me what money was ther, and farther in- 
formyd me of every thing he hadd lyk an honest man, and of 
truythe ther wasse no more monye ther in that bedde but 
xxv'^^ wiche vpon hys oothe he tolde me that he putt yt ther 
to paye certen detts with all now at Candelmas, wich in dede 
ys trew dett. and he layd those things at his brothers bycause 
he cowde yvill trust any servant he hadde. He surrenderyd 
hys Howse the same day twelve monyth he was made Mas- 
ter, and therfor every thing consideryd he left hys Howse in 
competent gudd state. The dyspacching of that Howse 
wasse som thing chardgeable for I founde ther xv. monks 
and Ixviij. seruants. I have made safe the evydences in 
every Howse wher I com, and in som of them I founde the 
evydences dispersyd and neglecte, moche pytie to see yt. 
Wherfor I beseke your Lordeschippe that aswell to stay the 
spoyle of the Howsys as for safgarde of suche evydences 
the Surveyors may com as spedyly after me as may be. 

I have folowyd your pleasure for your servant M. Whalley, 
at PoUesworth, wherfore I besek your Lordeschipp to re- 
niembre M. Cheyrey, at Bowsvale, Charterhowse Monks bye 
Nottingham, or in som other place. 

If I hadde made rasch ryddyng of thees iij. Howsys I 
hadde don the Kings Grace butt yvell service. And I trust 
now I have don both for hys Grace is profytt, and as every 
thing is savyd and all parts well pleasyd, I schall forwards 
mak all the spede I can possiblie. 

I have of thees iij. Howsys above DCCC. vnc. of plate, 
wich schalbe at London safly caryede by my commyng 
thedyr. And my servant now shall delyuer to your Lorde- 
shippe such ornaments as I have sent uppe. I besek your 
Lordeshippe to take these things I do in gudd part, for of 



258 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

my fayth I do truly my best diligence to serve the Kinge as 
our Lord knoweth, who with encresc of moch honor longe 
preserve your gudde Lordeshippe 

Your most bounden orator and servant, 

John London. 
To the right honerable and my most 
singuler goode Lorde, my Lorde of 
Prive Sealle. 

{Original Letters illustrative of English History, ed. H. Ellis, Lond., 1846. 
Third series, vol. Ill, p. 183.) 

(&) JOHN TREGONWELL TO SECRETARY CROMWELL 

Original Letters 

Pleasyth you to be advertised that after my departyng 
from Oxforde I went to Godstowe, where I fownde all thyngs 
well, and yn good order aswell yn the Monasteri and the 
Abbas there, as also yn the Convent of the same, excepte 
that one sister xiij. or xiiij. yers past, beyng then of a nothere 
howse, brake her chastyte {^quia peperit), the whych for cor- 
reccyon and punysment afterward was sent to Godstowe by 
the Byschope of Lyncolne, where now and euer sethens that 
tyme she hath levyd vertuowse. 

From thens I went to Ensham, where I fownde a rawe 
sort of Relygouse parsons and offences emongst them (al- 
moste yn all kyndys of synne commyttede, et etiam crimen 
pessimum) ; for the whych offences they have byne pun- 
yschede by theire ordynarye in his Visitation. Yet by as 
mych as I can perceve by inquisition th' abbot ys chaste of 
hys levyng, and dothe right well over loke the reparracons 
of his Howse, to whom I can obiecte nothyng but that he ys 
neglygent yn over seyng hys bretherne. He sayethe that 
hys dayly ynfyrmyty is th'occasion therof, whych ynfyr- 
mytye somwhat dyd appere by hys face to be trewe. 

From Ensham to Bruwerne, wher th'abbot ys (as hyt ap- 
peryth to me) not only vertuowse and well lernyde in holy 
Scrypture, but also hathe ryght well reparyde the rewen and 
dekeye of that howse, lefte by hys predycessors neglygens, 
and the Convent whych heretofore were insolent) byn now 
brought to good order. 

From Brewerne, I rode to Wraxton, a Howse of smalle 
rents, and stondeth moast be husbandry. The Prior there 
althoghe he be a good husbande and kepyth good hospitalite 
to hys abylyte, yet he is rewde and unlernyd. Et qualis 
pater tales filij. 



HENRV yill. AND THE CHURCH 259 

From thens to Clathercott a Howse of th'Order of the Gil- 
bertynes, where I fownde iij. Chanons beside the Pryor. 
That Howse ys olde, fowle, and fylthe. Whethere there 
levyng be accordyng, I cannot tell, for they desyryd me that 
I wolde not vyset them by cause (as they sayd) that yow 
hadde gevyne (by your commyssion) full autoryte to the 
Prior of Semperyngham to vyset all there Order, so that no 
man but he shulde medle with that Order ; and by cause I 
wolde not mitt ere f ale em in messem alienam with owt your 
pleasure to me knowen, I departed thens negotio infecto. 

And from that howse of the Gilbertynese I came to a 
Howse of Nunnes called Catysby of Ixxxx^' landys yerly, 
of th'order of Cistiowxe, under my Lorde of Lyncolnes 
jurysdiction (as I suppos) by usurpation. For that Order as 
you knowe hathe allwayes byn exempte from the Byschope. 
The Priores there ys a ryght sadde matrone, the systers also 
there now beyng by the space of xx** yeres hath byn (by as 
myche as I can lerne) without suspicon of incontynent 
levyng. 

From Catesby I rode to Chanons Asbye whych howse is 
Clx^* yn dette, by reason of the late preferment of the Prior 
there now beyng. The Howse also, by the neglygens of hys 
predycessor, ys yn rewen and dekey. Howbehyt the sayde 
Prior (all thought he be unlernyde) ys dysposed to thryve, 
and by the lernyng and good example of levyng of the Sup- 
prior of that Howse, the relygowse men there byn lyke to 
doo well. 

From Chanons Asbye, I rode to Chacofhbe, the Prior ys 
newly come thether whoo ys competently well lernyde in 
holy Scripture. The Chanons byn rewde and vnlernyde. 
He begynnyth to bryng them to some order. I fere nothyng 
yn hym but neglygens and overmyche famylyarite whych he 
vseth emongst them. 

From Chacombe, I came to Burcestre, ther I fynde that 
the Prior doth well over loke his bretherne, and also the 
profettys of hys Howse. His said bretherne by hys tyme 
hathe byn yn good order, exceptyde one (for fray of pun- 
ysment for hys incontenant levyng) ran away and soo he 
remaynyth at thys tyme yn apostacye. 

From thens, yester nyght, I came to Stoodlye. From 
thens, I yntende to Notley, and thens to Tame Abbeye, and 
last of all to Dorchester, where I make an end vnto the tyme 
I may knowe your farder pleasure, whych (Code wyllyng) 
I shall accomplysche. Vpon Frydaye nexte, I trust to be 



26o SOURCE-BOOK Of ENGLISH HISTORY 

redye to come to your Masterschype accordyng to your com- 
maundement sent to me by yo letters, besechyng you that I 
maye knowe whethere you wyll remayne yn the Cowrte or 
returne to London. And thus the holy Goast preserve you. 
Frome Stoodley, the xxvij*^^ day of Septembre. 

Yours moast bownden 

John Tregonwell. 

To the ryght honerable Mr. Thomas 
Cromwell, Cheff Secretarye to the 
Kynges Maiestye, be this dd. w*^ 
speade. 

{Orighial Letters, ed. cit., Ill, p. 37.) 

(c) JOHN LONDON TO LORD CROMWELL 

Original Letters 

In my most humble manner I have me comendyd unto 
your gudde Lordeshipp, as your most boundon orator and 
servant. I have not so moche rasyd Howses I have be at 
as I perceve the Kings Grace and your Lordeschippe ys in- 
formyd, and hadde rasyd noon saving for the words of suche 
Comissions as I have to schew, and dydd nott extremely so 
do butt wher necessitee compellyd me by reason of the im- 
portunytie of the people, wich els wold have pilledd all so as 
the Kings Grace schulde have hadd no profytt of those 
Howses; and in every place I savyd the hole ledd unto the 
Kings Graces use, and the hole plate. Yet have I be in soni 
very beggarly Howses, as now I am at oon, the Whyte Fryers 
in Northampton, wher all they have ys nott able to pay ther 
detts. And bravely I will rehersse what I dydd in euery 
Howse. 

At Reding I dydd oonly deface the Church ; all the windoes 
being full of Fryers ; and left the rof f and wallys hole to the 
Kings use. I solde the ornaments and the sellys in the dorter 
and certen utensyls wiche els wold have be stolen as dyvers 
were indede. 

At Aylesbury, I founde them very powr and in dett. Ther 
ornaments wor very coursse and very litill stuff of howshold. 
Ther I oonly solde the glasse wyndoes and ther ornaments 
with ther vtensyles. I left the Howse hole and oonly de- 
faced the Churche. Ther the hole churche ys well coveryd 
with ledd, and a gudd new roff. 

At Bedford, I dydd sell the ornaments of ther churche and 



HENRY l/III. AND THE CHURCH 261 

certen vtensiles. All the ledde I savyd with certen vten- 
syles, because I myzt leve them in saff custody with Mr. 
Gostwike. 

At Stamford, I left in the Grey Fryers all ther brewyng 
vessels, and ther kechyn stuff wasse so gud that I cowde gete 
butt viij^ for all. I solde ther ornaments and glasse of ther 
churche with certen stuff, and solde no glass in the Grey, 
Whyte, or Blacke Fryers, saving oonly in ther churches. At 
the Austen Fryers I sold all there glasse, for els all wold have 
be stollyd, ffor it stondeth owt of the town. In thre Fryers 
ther I sold ther brewyng vessels wich wer very ny worn. 

In Coventry, I dydd partly rase that Howse of the Gray 
Fryers, thou after the powr people lay so sore vpon ytt. 
Butt the Whyte Fryers I dydd litill vnto. 

At Warwick, the Fryers Howse ys withowt the town, an 
olde ruynose howse and no ledd butt gutters and the couer- 
yng of the steple. Ther I defacyd the church wyndoes and 
the sellys of the dorter as I dydd in euery place saving in 
Bedford and Aylisbury wher were few byars. I pullyd 
down no Howse thorowly at noon of the Fryers : butt so de- 
facyd them as they shuld not lyztly be made Fryerys agen. 

At Tellisford Crosse Fryers, I have oonly recyvyd the 
surrendere: and have left the Howse with all the stuff in 
safe custody with the late mynyster and oon of the Kings ser- 
uants dwelling therbye. In that Howse I must farther know 
your Lordeships pleasur or I do any more, as by my servant 
I shall shortly more at lengeth expresse every thing. Ther 
wasse a fonde fasschon of Idolytrye. In the body of the 
Churche wasse an Image at an Awters end callyd Mayden 
Cutbrogh, and vnder her feete wasse a trowgh of wodde des- 
cending undre the Awter wich wasse hollow. Thyder re- 
sortyd suche as wer trobelyd with the hedde ache, or hadde 
any slottiche wydowes lockes, viz. here growen to gether in 
a tufte. Ther must they putt in to the trowgh a peckke of 
oots, and when they wer 00ns slydyd vndre the Awter, the 
Crosse Fryers schuld behynd the Awter pryvily stele them 
owt, and the sykk person must give to the Fryer a peny for 
a pynte of these Maydon Cutbrogh oots, and then ther beds 
schuld ak no more till the next tyme. I have pullyd downe 
thys Idoll with herre manage. 

At Northampton, I fynd the Prior of Augustyns lyk a 
Fryer, and oon of the most unthrifts that yet I have mett 
with all : yet have I found butt few trew or gud, and amongs 
many blessyd reformations don by the Kings Grace, I sup- 



262 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

pose thys be nott the lest, vtterly to suppresse theis Fryars, 
in whom I fynd so moch dissymylation as may be in men. 
I trust to bring all ther falshudds here to lyzt, butt in the 
mean tyme I am fayne to sett the Prior and almost all hys 
brethern in warde. They have delyuered owt of ther Howse 
all ther plate and gudd stuff, and made billes of sale and 
knovvledging of receipt of certen sommys of money wher 
they receyvyd, nor owzt, oon peny, and all to disseyve the 
Kinge. I have in som of those billes her enclosyd, and moo 
I will have or I depart, and have agen the best stuff I saw 
yet, and more I trust to have. Howbeit by hys own con- 
fession he made away thys yere above a C^^ plate. He ys 
a great lyar and a gyvelar [shuffler]. 

I will hensforth deface no Howse unlesse I have your or 
the King's Grace speciall comaundment. Butt then if ther 
be no Surveyor to do ytt immedyaty or som suer man to in- 
habitt the same, the Howsys will be so spoyl3^d as litill profytt 
will com of them. I thowzt I dydd for the beste in defacinge 
those Howses, and have to the Kings Grace use above all, 
dispacchyng of the Fryers, payng ther detts and rewarding 
every oon of them, savyng also all the coveryng and wallys 
of the Howses, aswell in ledde, slatt, as tyle, and my chard- 
ges of expens born, and all the plate also thorowly savyd 
whole to the Kings use, CC^^ and above in gudd gold. And 
have also savyd to the Kings use the best ornaments wher any 
were with all. I will now owt of hand upon All Halon tyde 
send vppe or I execute any of these commissions last sent 
from your Lordeschippe to me. For I have a great dele of 
gudd plate wiche I wold fayn be dischargyd of. Thus I be- 
sech your Lordeschipp to take my powr meanyng in gudd 
partt intending to my littell powr to serve the Kings Grace, 
and so I dowbt nott butt his Majesty will accept my doings 
when his Grace knowith what beggarly and crafty merchants 
I have to be occupyed with all. And most humble I do thank 
your gudd Lordeshippe for yourgudnes and gudd mediation 
vnto hys most noble Grace for me, and shalbe during my liff 
your assured seruant and orator vnto Almyztie Godd long to 
preserue your guud Lordeshipp with increse of moch honor. 
At Northampton, XXIX. Octobris. 

Your most bovndon orator and seruant, 

John London. 

{Original Letters, ed.cit., vol. Ill, p. 130.) 



HENRY yill. AND THE CHURCH 26j 

117. A Summons to the Pilgrimage of Grace 

Original Letters 

The popular discontent which followed the dissolution of the 
smaller monasteries resulted in two insurrections ; the first was 
in Lincolnshire, the second, in Yorkshire. The latter was a 
most formidable movement, and was directed by Robert Aske, 
who gave to the uprising the name of the Pilgrimage of Grace. 
He issued several addresses, the selection given being his appeal 
to the common people. 

Masters, all men to be redie to morrw, and this neighte 
and in the niornyng to ryng your bellis in every towne, and 
to assemble your selfs apon Skypwithe mowre, and thare 
apoynte your Captayns, Master Hussye, Master Babthorp, 
and Master Gascoygn, and other gentilmen ; and to gef f 
warnyng to all be yonde the v^atter to be redy vpon payn of 
dethe for the Comen Welthe ; and make your proclymacon, 
every man to be trewe to the Kings issue, and the noble 
blode ; to preserve the Churche of God from spolyng ; and to 
be trew^ to the Comens and the vvelthis ; and ye shall have 
to morrowe the Articles and causis of your assemble and 
peticon to the Kyng, and the place of oure meting, and all 
other of poure and commen v^elthe. In haste, etc. 

By me Robt. Aske, Chieffe Captayn of 
M'ches land, Thile, and How'den 
shyre, Thomas Metham, Robt. Aske 
Yonger, Thomas Salte-Marche, 
Wyll~m. Monketon, M. Ffranke, 
Master Cawood, Captayns of the 
same. 

{Original Letters illustrative of Jinglish History, ed. H. Ellis. 
Lond., 1846, III, p. 53.) 

118. The Lancaster Herald's Mission to the Insurgents 

Original Letters 

The Pilgrimage of Grace was of such formidable character 
that great exertions were made to rapidly suppress it. These 
efforts were successful when force of numbers overawed the 
insurgents whose ranks were thinned by discontent and distress 
bred by the diplomacy, or treachery, of the Duke of Norfolk, the 
commander of the forces of the king. The leaders of this re- 
bellion, Aske, and the Lords Darcy and Hussey were pardoned, 
but another rebellion having broken out in Lancaster convenient 
pretext was taken for connecting them with it, and they suffered 
the death penalty. The Lancaster Herald, whose account of a 
mission to the insurgents on the Pilgrimage we give, was also 
executed, — not for participation in the rebellion, but for kneeling 
to its leaders while he was on the king's mission. 



26.[ SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

The manner, fashion, and ordering of me Lancaster Her- 
ald at Arms to our Sovereign Lord the King, sent from Sroby 
the 2 1 St day of October, by the right honourable Lord the 
Earl of Shrewsbury, Lord Steward of the King's most hon- 
ourable household, and Lieutenant General from the Trent 
northward, and the right honourable Earls of Rutland and 
Huntingdon of the King's most honourable Counsell, to Pom- 
fret, with a Proclamation to be read amongst the traitorous 
and rebellious persons assembled at Pomfret contrary to 
King's laws. And when I did approach near the town of 
Pomfret, I overtook certain companies of the said rebellious, 
being common people of the husbandry, which saluted me 
gently, and gave great honour to the King's coat of arms 
which I ware. And I demanded of them why they were in 
harness, and assembled of such sort; and they answered me 
that it was for the Commonwealth; and said if they did not 
so, the Commonalty and the Church should be destroyed. 
And I demanded of them how. And they said that no man 
should bury, nor christen, nor wedd, nor have their beast un- 
marked, but that the King would have a certain sum of 
money for every such thing, and the beast unmarked to his 
own house, which had never been seen. And I answered 
them and told them how good and gracious Lord the King 
had been to them, and how long he had kept them in great 
wealth, tranquillity and peace; and also that his Grace, nor 
none of his Counsel, never intended nor thought no such 
things and articles as they found them grieved with. And 
with such persuasions as I found and said to them, riding 
into the Town, I had gat grant of three or four hundred of 
the Commonalty to go gladly home to their houses, and to 
ask the King's mercy; and said, they were weary of that life 
they were in. And resorted first to the Market Cross, where 
I should have made the proclamation. And Robert Aske, 
captain of the host, being in the Castle, heard tell that I was 
comen, and sent for me to come to him ; and so I did ; and as 
I entered into the first ward, there I found many in harness, 
of very cruel fellows, and a porter with a white staff in his 
hand; and at the two other ward-gates every of them a 
porter with his staff, accompanied with harnessed men; and 
so I was brought into the Hall, which I found full of people. 
And I was commanded to tarry to such time as the said trai- 
torous captain's pleasure was known; and in that space I 
stood up at the high table in the Hall, and there shewed to 
the people the cause of my coming, and the effect of the 



HENRV VIII. AXD THE CIILRCH 2C5 

Proclamation; and in doing the same, the said Aske sent 
for me in to his chamber; and there keeping his port and 
countenance as though he had been a great Prince, with 
great rigour and like a tyrant ; who was accompanied with 
the Archbishop of York, the Lord Darcy, Sir Robert Con- 
stable, Mr. Magnus, Sir Christopher Danby, and divers 
other. And, as my dutie was, I saluted the Archbishop of 
York and my Lord Darcy, showing to them the cause I came 
thither for. And then the said Robert Aske, with a cruell 
and inestimable proud countenance, stretched himself, and 
took the hearing of my tale, which I opened to him at large, 
in as much honour to our Sovereign Lord the King as my 
reason would serve me ; which the said Captain Aske gave 
no reverance to, and superstitiously demanded the sight of 
my Proclamation. And then I took it out of my purse and 
delivered it to him, and then he read it openly, w^ithout any 
reverence to my person ; and said, it should not need to call 
no counsell for the answer of the same, for he would of his 
own wit give me the answer, which was this. He, standing 
in the highest place of the chamber, taking the high estate 
upon him, said, "Herald, as a messenger you are welcome to 
me and all my company, intending as I do. And as for the 
Proclamation sent from the Lords, from whence you come, 
shall not be read at the Market Cross, nor in no place 
amongst my people, which be all under my guiding; nor for 
fear of loss of lands, life, and goods, not for the power which 
is against us, doth not enter into our hearts with fear, but 
are all of one accord with the points of our articles, clearly 
intending to see a reformation, or else to die in those causes." 
And then I demanded of him what his article was. And he 
said, one was that he and his company would go to London 
of pilgrimage to the King's Highness, and there to have all 
vile blood of his Counsell put from him, and all noble blood 
set up again, and also the Faith of Christ and his laws to be 
kept, and full restitution of Christ's Church of all wrongs 
done unto it, and also the Commonalty to be used as they 
should be : and bade me trust to this, for it should be done, 
or he would die for it. And then I required him, that he 
would give me this in writing, for my capacity would not 
serve to bear it away ; and he said, "With a good will" ; and 
called for his oath which he gave to his people, and said 
th'articles was comprehended within the said oath, and 
delivered it in writing to me, and caused me to read it my- 
self; and he sayd, to that he would sett to his hand, and die 



266 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

in the quarrel, and his people with him. And then I prayed 
him to put his hand to the said bill, and so he did, and with a 
proud voice said, "This is mine act, whosoever say the con- 
trary." And also he said, he meant no harm to the King's 
person, but to see reformation. And I fell down on my knee 
before him, showing him how I was a messenger, and 
charged by the King's Counsell to read the Proclamation 
which I brought, for my discharge ; and he clearly answered 
me, that of my life I should not; for he would have nothing 
put into his people's head that should sound contrary to his 
intent; and said at all times I should have his safe conduct, 
to come and go in message, wearing the King's coat of arms, 
or else not : and also said, if my Lord of Shrewsbury, or any 
other of the Lords of the King's army, would come and speak 
with him, they should have of him their safe conducts, to 
come safe and go safe; and also said, "Herald, recommend 
me to the Lords from whence you come, and say to them it 
were mete that they were with me, for it is for all their 
wealths that I do." And then he commanded the Lord 
Darcy to give me two crowns of five shillings to reward, 
whether I wold or no; and then took me by the arm, and 
brought me forth of the Castle, and there made a proclama- 
tion that I should go safe and come safe, wearing the King's 
coat, in payne of death ; and so took his leave of me, and re- 
turned into the Castle in high honour of the people, as a 
traitor may. And I missed my horse, and I called to him 
again, for to have my horse, and then he made a proclama- 
tion that who so held my horse, and brought him not again 
immediately, bad kill him without mercy. And then both my 
horse was delivered to me, and then he commanded that 
twenty or forty men should bring me out of the Town where 
I should see the least of his people, nor that I should not speak 
with them. For surely I think, if I might have redd the 
Proclamacion and good words unto the people, that all the 
plough-commonalty would have gone home to their houses 
immediately, for they say they be weary of that life they 
lead, and if they say to the contrary to the captain's will, he 
shall die immediately. And this all to be true, I, the said 
Lancaster, hath written this with my hand and true report as 
mine Oath is." 

"Lancaster Herrald." 

{Original Letters, ed. cit., Ill, 54.) 



HENRY VIII. AND THE CHURCH 267 

119. The Six Articles 

(31 Henry VIII, c 14, 1539) 

Statutes of the Realm 

No single document so well illustrates the attitude of Henry 
VIII. to the Catholic Church as does the "Act Abolishing Diver- 
sity in Opinions." In this enactment we find no departure from 
the tenets of the ancient faith. In its preservation of the funda- 
mental doctrines of the Catholic Communion, we find proof that 
the Church of Henry VIII. was not Protestant, as to any doctrine 
except that of papal supremacy. Yet in breaking away from the 
Catholic Church, and in repudiating the supremacy of the pope, 
Henry gave a fresh impetus to the Protestant movement, which 
had been for centuries accumulating force. 

AN ACT ABOLISHING DIVERSITY IN OPINIONS 

Whereas the King's most excellant Majesty is by God's 
law supreme head immediately under Him of this whole 
Church and Congregation of England, intending the conser- 
vation of the same Church and Congregation in a true, 
sincere, and uniform doctrine of Christ's Religion, calling 
also to His blessed and most gracious remembrance as well 
the great and quiet assurance, prosperous increase, and other 
innumerable commodities which have ever ensued, come, and 
followed of concord, agreement, and unity in opinions, as 
also the manifold perils, dangers, and inconveniences, which 
have heretofore in many places and regions grown, sprung, 
and arisen of the diversities of minds and opinions, es- 
pecially of matters of Christian Religion ; and therefore 
desiring that such an unity might and should be charitably 
established in all tlihigs touching and concerning the same, 
as the same so being established might chiefly be to the 
honor of Almighty God, the very Author and Fountain of all 
true unity and sincere concord, and consequently redowned 
to the common-wealth of this his highness' most noble 
realm, and of all his loving subjects and other residents and 
inhabitants of or in the same : hath therefore caused and 
commanded this his most high Court of Parliament, for 
sundry and many urgent causes and considerations, to be at 
this time summoned, and also a synod and convocation of all 
the archbishops, bishops, and other learned men of the clergy 
of this his realm, to be in like manner assembled ; and foras- 
much as in the said Parliament, synod, and convocation 
there were certain articles, matters, and questions appointed 
and set forth touching Christian Religion, that is to say; 
First, whether in the Pio§t blessed Sacrament of the Altar re- 



268 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

maineth after the consecration the substance of bread and 
[wine] or no; Secondly, whether it be necessary by God's 
law that all men should be communicate with both kinds or 
no; Thirdly, whether priests, that is to say men dedicated to 
God by priesthood, may by the law of God marry after or no ; 
Fourthly, whether vow of chastity or widowhood made to God 
advisedly by man or woman be by the law of God to be ob- 
served or no ; Fifthly, whether private Masses stand with the 
law of God and be to be used and continued in the Church 
and Congregation of England as things whereby good 
Christian people may and do receive both Godly consolation 
and wholesome benefits or no; Sixthly, whether auricular 
confession is necessary to be retained, continued, used, and 
frequented in the Church or no; the King's most Royal 
Majesty, most prudently pondering and considering that by 
occasion of variable and sundry opinions and judgments of 
the said Articles, great discord and variance hath arisen as 
well amongst the clergy of this his realm, as amongst a great 
number of vulgar people, his loving subjects of the same, 
and being in a full hope and trust that a full and perfect re- 
solution of the said Articles should make a perfect concord 
and unity generally amongst all his loving and obedient 
subjects; of his most excellant goodness not only com- 
manded that the said Articles should deliberately and ad- 
visedly by his said archbishops, bishops, and other learned 
men of his clergy, be debated, argued, and reasoned, and 
their opinions therein to be understood, declared, and known, 
but also most graciously vouchsafed in his own princely 
person to descend and come into his said high court of Par- 
liament and Council, and there, like a prince of most high 
prudence and no less learning, opened and declared many 
things of high learning and great knowledge touching the 
said articles, matters, and questions, for an unity to be had 
in the same ; Whereupon, after a great and long deliberate 
and advised disputation and consultation had and made con- 
cerning the said Articles, as well by the consent of the King's 
Highness as by the assent of the Lords Spiritual and Tem- 
poral, and other learned men of his clergy in- their con- 
vocation, and by the consent of the Commons in this present 
Parliament assembled, it was, and is, finally resolved, ac- 
corded, and agreed in manner and form following, that is 
to say; First, that in the most blessed Sacrament of the 
Altar, by the strength and efficacy of Christ's mighty word, 
it being spoken by the priest, is present really, under the 



HENRY VIII. AND THE CHURCH 269 

form of bread and wine, the natural body and blood of our 
Saviour Jesus Christ, conceived of the Virgin Mary, and that 
after the consecration there remaineth no substance of bread 
or wine, nor any other substance but the substance of Christ, 
God and Man ; Secondly, that communion in both kinds is 
n.ot necessary ad salutem by the law of God to all persons ; 
and that it is to be believed and not doubted of, but that in 
the flesh under form of bread is the very blood, and with the 
blood under form of wine is the very flesh, as well apart as 
though they were both together ; Thirdly, that priests after 
tlie order of priesthood received, as before, may not marry 
by the law of God; Fourthly, that vows of chastity or 
widowhood by man or woman made to God advisedly ought 
to be observed by the law of God, and that it exempts them 
from other liberties of Christian people, which, without that, 
tliey might enjoy; Fifthly, that it is meet and necessary 
that private Masses be continued and admitted in this the 
King's English Church and Congregation, as whereby good 
Christian people ordering themselves accordingly do receive 
both Godly and goodly consolations and benefits, and it is 
agreeable also to God's law ; Sixthly, that auricular confes- 
sion is expedient and necessary to be retained and continued, 
used and frequented, in the Church of God ; . . . 

(Ed. from Statutes of the Realm, ed. cit., Ill, 739.) 

120. The Bible in the English Churches 

(33 Henry VI II, 1542) 

Records, Burnet 

Tlie close of the reign of Henry VIII. was marked by a de- 
cided movement toward Protestantism. The influence of Cran- 
mer and Cromwell was thrown against the fundamental doctrines 
of the Catholic Church. The changed attitude of the Crown is 
shown in the statute enforcing the keeping of a pubhc Bible in 
the English churches, and in the proclamation ordering prayers 
to be read in the English tongue. These two statutes indicated 
the approaching era of ultra-Protestantism brought about by the 
advisers of Edward VI. 

PROCLAMATION ORDAINED BY THE KING's MAJESTY, WITH THE 
ADVICE OF HIS HONOURABLE COUNCIL, FOR THE BIBLE OF 
THE LARGEST AND GREATEST VOLUME TO BE HAD IN EVERY 
CHURCH ; DEVISED THE SIXTH DAY OF MAY, THE THIRTY- 
THIRD YEAR OF THE KING's MOST GRACIOUS REIGN, 

WHEREBY injunctions heretofore set forth by the au- 
thority of the king's royal majesty, supreme head of the 



270 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

church of this his reahn of England, it was ordained and 
commanded, amongst other things, that in all and singular 
parish churches, there should be provided, by a certain day 
now expired, at the costs of the curates and parishioners, 
Bibles containing the Old and New Testament in the English 
tongue, to be fixed and set up openly in every of the said 
parish churches; the which godly commandment and injunc- 
tion was to the only intent that every of the king's majesty's 
loving subjects, minding to read therein, might, by occasion 
thereof, not only consider and perceive the great and inef- 
fable omnipotent power, promise, justice, mercy and good- 
ness of Almighty God, but also to learn thereby to observe 
God's commandments, and to obey their sovereign lord and 
high powers, and to exercise godly charity, and to use them- 
selves according to their vocations, in a pure and sincere 
Christian life without murmur or grudging: by the which 
injunctions, the king's royal majesty intended that his loving 
subjects should have and use the commodities of the reading 
of the said Bibles, for the purpose above rehearsed, humbly, 
meekly, reverently, and obediently, and not that any of 
them should read the said Bibles with high and loud voices, 
in time of the celebration of the holy mass, and other divine 
services used in the church ; or that any of his lay-subjects 
reading the same, should presume to take upon them any 
common disputation, argument, or exposition of the mysteries 
therein contained; but that every such layman should, hum- 
bly, meekly, and reverently, read the same for his own in- 
struction, edification, and amendment of his life, according 
to God's holy word therein mentioned. And notwithstand- 
ing the king's said most godly and gracious commandment 
and injunction, in form as aforesaid, his royal majesty is in- 
formed, that divers and many towns and parishes within this 
his realm have neglected their duties in the accomplishment 
thereof; whereof his highness marvelleth not a little; and 
minding the execution of his said former most godly and 
gracious injunctions, doth straitly charge and command, that 
the curates and parishioners of every town and parish within 
this his realm of England, not having already Bibles pro- 
vided within their parish churches, shall, on this side the 
feast of All Saints next coming, buy and provide Bibles of 
the largest and greatest volume, and cause the same to be 
set and fixed in every of the said parish churches, there to 
be used as is aforesaid, according to the said former in- 
junctions, upon pain that the curate and inhabitants of the 



HENRY VIII. AND THE CHURCH 271 

parishes and towns shall lose and forfeit to the king's ma- 
jesty for every month that they shall lack and want the said 
Bibles, after the same feast of All Saints, 40s., the one half 
of the same forfeit to be to the king's majesty, and the other 
half to him or them which shall first find and present the 
same to the king's majesty's council . . . And his highness 
straitly chargeth and commandeth that all and singular 
ordinaries, having ecclesiastical jurisdiction w^ithin this his 
church and realm of England, and dominion of Wales, that 
they and every of them shall put their effectual endeavours 
that the curates and parishioners shall obey and accomplish 
this his majesty's proclamation and commandment, as they 
tender the advancement of the king's most gracious and 
godly purpose in that behalf and as they will answer to his 
highness for the same. 

God save the king. 

{Collection of Records, Burnet, ed. cit., cvii.) 

121. Church Services to be in English 

(36 Henry VIII, 1545) 

Records, Burnet 

This mandate produced a complete overturn of the old custom 
of using Latin in the services of the Church ; and since its issue 
the services of the Church of England have been held in the 
English tongue. 

A MANDATE FOR PUBLISHING AND USING THE PRAYERS IN THE 
ENGLISH TONGUE. 

Mandatum Domino Episcopo London, direct, pro puhlica- 
tione Regiarum Injunctionuni. 

Most reverend father in God, right trusty and right well- 
beloved, we greet you w^ell. and let you wit, that calling to 
our remembrance the miserable state of all Christendom, 
being at this present, besides all other troubles, so plagued 
with most cruel wars, hatred, and dissensions, as no place of 
the same almost (being the whole reduced to a very narrow 
corner) remaineth in good peace, agreement, and concord; 
the help and remedy whereof far exceeding the power of 
any man, must be called for of Him who only is able to grant 
our petitions, and never forsaketh nor repelleth any that 
firmly believe and faithfully call on him ; unto whom also 
the example of Scripture encourageth us, in all these and 
other our troubles and necessities, to fly and to cry for aid 



IS 



272 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

and succour; being therefore resolved to have continually 
from henceforth general processions, in all cities, towns, 
churches, and parishes in this our realm, said and sung, with i 
such reverence and devotion as appertaineth. Forasmuch 
as heretofore the people, partly for lack of good instruction 
and calling, and partly for that they understood no part of 
such prayers or suffrages as were used to be sung and said, 
have used to come very slackly to the procession, when the 
same have been commanded heretofore; we have set forth 
certain godly prayers and suffrages in our native English 
tongue, which we send you herewith, signifying unto you, 
that for the special trust and confidence we have of your 
godly mind, and earnest desire, to the setting forward of 
the glory of God, and the true worshipping of his most holy 
name, within that province committed by us unto you, we 
have sent unto you these suffrages, not to be for a month or 
two observed, and after slenderly considered, as other our 
injunctions have, to our no little marvel, been used ; but to the 
intent that as well the same, as other our injunctions, may be 
earnestly set forth by preaching good exhortations and other- 
wise to the people, in such sort as they feeling the godly 
taste thereof, may godly and joyously, with thanks, receive, 
embrace, and frequent the same, as appertaineth. Where- 
fore we will and command you, as you will answer unto us 
for the contrary, not only to cause these prayers and suf- 
frages aforesaid to be published, frequented, and openly used 
in all towns, churches, villages, and parishes of your own 
diocess, but also to signify this our pleasure unto all other 
bishops of your province, willing and commanding them in 
our name, and by virtue hereof, to do and execute the same 
accordingly. Unto whose proceedings, in the execution of 
this our commandment, we will that you have a special 
respect, and make report unto us, if any shall not with good 
dexterity accomplish the same ; not failing, as our special 
trust is in you. 

At St. James's, Junii — Regni 36. Directed to 
the Archbishop of Canterbury. 

{Collectio7i 0/ Records, Burnet, ed. cit., cxiii. 



CHAPTER XVI 

THE REIGN OF EDWARD VI. 



122. Regulations concerning the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper 

(i Edw. VI, 1547) 

Statutes at Large 0/ England 

The following Act strikingly illustrates one of the results of 
the sudden overthrow of Catholicism. The sacrament, which had 
once been to all the most sacred of ceremonies, became a subject 
of blasphemy on both sides. So widespread was this evil that 
it was necessary to take legal measures to suppress it, lest religion 
should be utterly subverted by being brought into almost uni- 
versal disrepute. 

AN ACT AGAINST SUCH PERSONS AS SHALL UNREVERENTLY 
SPEAK AGAINST THE SACRAMENT OF THE BODY AND BLOOD 
OF CHRIST, COMMONLY CALLED THE SACRAMENT OF THE 
ALTAR, AND FOR THE RECEIVING THEREOF IN BOTH KINDS. 

I. (PREAMBLE. This describes the nature and sanc- 
tity of the Sacrament, recites the abuses thereof, and pro- 
vides against irreverent speaking thereof.) 

II. (Provides for the methods of examination of Ac- 
cusers.) 

III. (Provides for process under this Act.) 

IV. (Provision that justices of the peace, before whom 
trial is held, shall summons bishop of diocese to trial.) 

V. (Provides that indictment must be laid within three 
months after committal of offense.) 

VI. (Method of proof of innocence.) 

VII. And forasmuch as it is more agreeable, both to the 
first institution of the said Sacrament of the most precious 
body and blood of our Saviour Jesus Christ, and also more 
conformable to the common use and practice both of the 
Apostles and the primitive Church by the space of 500 years 
and more after Christ's ascension, that the said blessed 
Sacrament should be administered to all Christian people 
under both the kinds of bread and wine, than under the 

273 



274 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

form of bread only: And also it is more agreeable to the 
first institution of Christ, and to the usage of the Apostles 
and the primitive Church, that the people being present 
should receive the same with the priest than that the priest 
should receive it alone: Therefore be it enacted by our said 
sovereign lord the King, w^ith the consent of the Lords 
Spiritual and Temporal, and the Commons, in this present 
Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same. 
That the said most blessed Sacrament be hereafter commonly 
delivered and administered unto the people within the Church 
of England and Ireland, and other the King's dominions, 
under both the kinds, that is to say, of bread and wine, 
except necessity otherwise require : And also the priest 
which shall administer the same shall, at the least one day 
before, exhort all persons which shall be present likewise 
to resort and prepare themselves to receive the same. And 
when the day prefixed cometh, after a godly exhortation by 
the minister made (wherein shall be further expressed the 
benefit and comfort promised to them which worthily re- 
ceive the said Holy Sacrament, and danger and indignation 
of God threatened to them which shall presume to receive 
the same unworthily, to the end that every man may try and 
examine his own conscience before he shall receive the 
same), the said minister shall not without a lawful cause 
deny the same to any person that will devoutly and humbly 
desire it; any law, statute, ordinance, or custom contrary 
thereto in any wise notwithstanding: Not condemning here- 
by the usage of any church out of the King's Majesty's 

dommiOnS. (E^ from statutes at Large, ed. cit., Ill, 478.) 

123. The Act of Uniformity 

(2 Edw. VI, 1548) 

Statutes at Large of England 

Confusion in order and lack of reverence in religious services, 
followed the innovations of Henry VHI. As Protestantism 
gained control, the disorder increased. The inevitable end was 
clearly foreseen by the advisers of Edward VI., and prompt action 
was taken by the following Act, which was designed to cause all 
the various forms of divine service to conform to one model, 
that of the Protestant Church of England. 

AN ACT FOR THE UNIFORMITY OF SERVICE AND ADMINISTRA- 
TION OF THE SACRAMENTS THROUGHOUT THE REALM 

(The preamble recites the uses of various forms of ser- 
vice; the attempt of the King and Lord Protector to prevent 



THE REIGN OF EDWARD VI. 275 

innovations; the clemency of the King in not punishing of- 
fenders against his decrees; the appointment of the Arch- 
bishop of Canterbury and others to frame a common order 
of prayer and rites ; the framing of the Book of Common 
Prayer; and the thanks of Parliament for the latter. It 
also asks amnesty for all offenders in the premises, and 
proceeds :) 

. . . and that all and singular ministers in any cathedral or 
parish church or other place within this realm of England, 
Wales, Calais, and the marches of the same, or other the 
King's dominions, shall, from and after the feast of Pente- 
cost next coming, be bounden to say and use the matins, 
evensong, celebration of the Lord's Supper, commonly called 
the Mass, and administration of each of the Sacraments, and 
all their common and open prayer, in such order and form 
as is mentioned in the same book, and none other or other- 
wise. And albeit that the same be so godly and good that 
they give occasion to every honest and conformable man 
most willingly to embrace them, yet lest any obstinate person 
who willingly would disturb so godly order and quiet in 
this realm should not go unpunished, that it may also be 
ordained and enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if any 
manner of parson, vicar, or other whatsoever ministers, that 
ought or should sing or say Common Prayer mentioned in 
the said Book, or administer the Sacraments, shall after the 
said feast of Pentecost next coming refuse to use the said 
Common Prayers, or to administer the Sacraments in such 
cathedral or parish church, or other places as he should use 
or administer the same, in such order and form as they be 
mentioned and set forth in the said Book ; or shall use, wil- 
fully and obstinately standing in the same, any other rite, 
ceremony, order, form, or manner of Mass openly or privily, 
or matins, evensong, administration of the Sacraments, or 
other open prayer than is mentioned and set forth in the said 
Book (open prayer, in and throughout this Act, is meant 
that prayer which is for other to come unto and hear, either 
in common churches or private chapels or oratories, com- 
monly called the Service of the Church) : or shall preach, 
declare, or speak any thing in the derogation or depraving 
of the said Book, or any thing therein contained, or of any 
part thereof; and shall be thereof lawfully convicted ac- 
cording to the laws of this realm, by verdict of twelve men, 
or by his own confession, or by the notorious evidence of the 
fact, shall lose and forfeit to the King's Highness, his heirs 



276 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

and successors, for his first offence, the profits of such one 
of his spiritual benefices or promotions as it shall please the 
King's Highness to assign or appoint, coming and arising 
in one whole year next after his conviction. [The rest of 
this section deals with form of penalty for first, second, and 
third offences.] 

II. And it is ordained and enacted by the authority above- 
said. That if any person or persons whatsoever, after the 
said feast of Pentecost next coming, shall in any interludes, 
plays, songs, rhymes, or by other open words, declare or 
speak any thing in the derogation, depraving, or despising 
of the same Book, or of any thing therein contained, or any 
part thereof; or shall by open fact, deed, or by open threat- 
enings, compel or cause, or otherwise procure or maintain 
any parson, vicar, or other minister in any cathedral or 
parish church, or in any chapel or other place, to sing or say 
any common and open prayer, or to administer any Sacra- 
ment otherwise or in any other manner or form than is 
mentioned in the said Book; or that by any of the said 
means shall unlawfully interrupt or let any parson, vicar, 
or other ministers in any cathedral or parish church, chapel, 
or any other place, to sing or say common and open prayer, 
or to administer the Sacraments, or any of them, in any 
such manner and form as is mentioned in the said Book ; that 
then every person being thereof lawfully convicted in form 
abovesaid, shall forfeit to the King our sovereign lord, his 
heirs and successors, for the first offence ten pounds. [The 
rest of this section deals with forms of penalties.] 

III. (Provides that justices of oyer may sit in judgment.) 

IV. (Provides that a bishop may at his pleasure join with 
the justices at the trial.) 

V. Provided always. That it shall be lawful to any man 
that understandeth the Greek, Latin, and Hebrew tongue, 
or other strange tongue, to say and have the said prayers 
heretofore specified of matins and evensong in Latin, or any 
such other tongue, saying the same privately, as they do 
understand. 

VI. And for the further encouragement of learning in the 
tongues in the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford to use 
and exercise in their common and open prayer in their 
chapels (being no parish churches), or other places of 
prayer, the matins, evensong, litany, and all other prayers 
(the Holy Communion, commonly called the Mass, ex- 
cepted), prescribed in the said Book, in Greek, Latin, or 



THE REIGN OF EDWARD VI. 277 

Hebrew; any thing in this present Act to the contrary 
notwithstanding. 

VII. Provided also, That it shall be lawful for all men, 
as well in churches, chapels, oratories, or other places, to 
use openly any psalms or prayer taken out of the Bible, at 
any due time, not letting or omitting thereby the Service, 
or any part thereof, mentioned in the said Book. 

VIII. (Provides that Service Books shall be gotten by all 
churches before the next feast of Pentecost.) 

IX. X, XI, XII, and XIII provide for procedure and juris- 
diction under this Act. 

(Ed. from Statutes at Large, ed. cit., Ill, p. 517.) 

124. Against Books and Images 

(3 Edw. VI, 1549) 

Statutes at Large of England 

The zeal of the Protestant party led to the issue of stringent 
acts against all practices that recalled the doctrines of the Catho- 
lic Church. Uniformity of worship was secured by careful sup- 
pression and drastic legislation. 

Whereas the King's most excellent Majesty hath of late 
set forth and established by authority of Parliament an 
uniform, quiet, and godly order for Common and Open 
Prayer, in a book entitled. The Book of Common Prayer 
and Administration of the Sacraments, and other Rites and 
Ceremonies of the Church, after the Church of England, to 
be used and observed in the said Church of England, agree- 
ably to the order of the primitive Church, much more com- 
fortable unto his loving subjects than other diversity of ser- 
vice, as heretofore of long time hath been used, being in the 
said book ordained, nothing to be read but the very pure 
Word of God, or which is evidently grounded upon the 
same ; and in the other, things corrupt, untrue, vain, and 
superstitious, and as it were a preparation to superstition ; 
which for that they be not called in, but permitted to re- 
main undefaced, do not only give occasion to such perverse 
persons as do impugn the order and godly meaning of the 
King's said Book of Common Prayer, to continue in their 
old accustomed superstitious service, but also minister great 
occasion to diversity of opinions, rites, ceremonies, and 
services : Be it therefore enacted by the King our Sovereign 
Lord, the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and the Commons, 
in the present Parliament assembled. That all books called 
antiphoners, missals, grailes, processionals, manuals, legends, 



278 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

pies, portuasses, primers in Latin or English, couchers, 
journals, ordinals, or other books or writings heretofore 
used for service of the Church, written or printed in the 
English or Latin tongue, other than such as are or shall be 
set forth by the King's Majesty, shall be by authority of this 
present Act clearly and utterly abolished, extinguished, and 
forbidden for ever to be used or kept in this realm, or else- 
where within any of the King's dominions. 

IL And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid. 
That if any person or persons, of what estate, degree, or 
condition soever he, she, or they be, body politic or cor- 
porate, that now have or hereafter shall have in his, her, or 
their custody, any the books or writings of the sorts afore- 
said, or any images of stone, timber, alabaster, or earth, 
graven, carved, or painted, which heretofore have been 
taken out of any church or chapel, or yet stand in any 
church or chapel, and do not before the last day of June 
next ensuing deface and destroy, or cause to be defaced and 
destroyed, the same images and every of them, and deliver 
or cause to be delivered all and every the same books to the 
mayor, bailiff, constable, or church-wardens of the town 
where such books then shall be, to be by them delivered over 
openly within three months next following after the said 
delivery, to the archbishop, bishop, chancellor, or commis- 
sary, of the same diocese, to the intent the said archbishop, 
bishop, chancellor, or commissary, and every of them, cause 
them immediately either to be openly burnt or otherwise de- 
faced and destroyed ; shall for every such book or books will- 
ingly retained in his, her, or their hands or custody within the 
realm, or elsewhere within any of the King's dominions, and 
not delivered as is aforesaid, after the said last day of June, 
and be thereof lawfully convict, forfeit and lose to the King 
our Sovereign Lord, for the first offence xx s., and for the 
second offence shall forfeit and lose (being thereof lawfully 
convict) iv U, and for the third offence shall suffer im- 
prisonment at the King's will. 

IIL (Provides penalty in case of default of duty by any 
Mayor, etc.) 

IV. (Provides for jurisdiction by Justices of the Assize.) 

V. Provided also, and be it enacted by the authority afore- 
said. That any person or persons may use, keep, have, and 
retain any primers in the English or Latin tongue, set forth 
by the late King of famous memory. King Henry the Eighth, 
so that the sentences of invocation or prayer to the saints in 



I 



THE REIGN OF EDWARD VI. 279 

the same primers be blotted or clearly put out of the same; 
any thing in this Act to the contrary notwithstanding. 

VL Provided always, That this Act, or any thing therein 
contained, shall not extend to any image or picture set or 
graven upon any tomb in any church, chapel, or church- 
yard, only for a monument of any king, prince, nobleman, or 
other dead person, which hath not been commonly reputed or 
taken for a saint, but that such pictures and images my 
stand and continue in like manner and form as if this Act 
had never been had nor made; any thing in this Act to the 
contrary in any wise notwithstanding. 

(Ed. from Statutes at Large, ed. cited, III, p. 565. 

125. Journal of Edward VI. 

Records, Burnet 

The following extracts from the journal of Edward VL, a mere 
boy, are pathetic in their evidence of abnormal precocity. They 
are also important in that they foreshadow the attitude of Mary 
toward the Protestant religion. 

March [1550] 

18. The lady Mary, my sister, came to me at Westminster, 
where, after salutations, she was called with my council, into 
a chamber ; where was declared how long I had suffered her 
mass, in hope of her reconciliation, and how now being no 
hope, which I perceived by her letters, except I saw some 
short amendment, I could not bear it. She answered, "that 
her soul was God's, and her faith she would not change, 
nor dissemble her opinion with contrary doings." It was 
said, 'T constrained not her faith, but willed her not as a 
king to rule, but as a subject to obey; and that her example 
might breed too much inconvenience." 

19. The emperor's ambassador came with a short message 
from his master of war, if I would not suffer his cousin, the 
princess, to use her mass. To this was no answer given at 
this time. 

20. The bishops of Canterbury, London, Rochester, did 
consider to give license to sin, was sin; to suffer and wink 
at it for a time might be born, so all haste possible might 
be used. 

23. The council having the bishop's answers, seeing my 
subjects taking their vent in Flanders, might put the whole 
realm in danger. The Flemings had cloth enough for a year in 
their hand, and were kept far under the danger of the papists; 



28o SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

the fifteen hundred cinquetales of powder I had in Flanders, i 
the harness they had for preparation of the gendarmory, ■' 
the goods my merchants had there at the Woolfleet, decreed 
to send an ambassador to the emperor, Mr. Wotton, to deny 
the matter wholly, and persuade the emperor in it, thinking, 
by his going, to win some time for a preparation of a mart, 
convenience of powder, harness, etc., and for the surety of the 
realm. In the mean season, to punish the offenders, first of 
my servants that heard mass, next of hers. 

24. Sir Anthony Brown sent to the Fleet for hearing mass 
with Serjeant Morgan, Sir Clement Smith, which a year be- 
fore heard mass, chidden. 

25. The ambassador of the emperor came to have his 
answer, but had none, saving, that one should go to the 
emperor within a month or two to declare the matter. 

{Collection of Records, Burnet, ed. cit., clxvi. 



CHAPTER XVII 

THE REACTION AGAINST PROTESTANTISM 



126. Lady Jane Grey's Claim to the Throne 

Records^ Bttrnet 

The claim of Lady Jane Dudley — or, as she is better known, 
of Lady Jane Grey — to the throne of England is set forth in the 
following document. The text has been given in full, as it throws 
light upon a little-understood period, and gives the complete 
ground of claim of the unfortunate lady whose reign was the 
briefest of England's queens. 

Jane, by the grace of God queen of England, France, and 
Ireland, defender of the faith, and of the Church of England, 
and also of Ireland, under Christ on earth the supreme head. 
To all our most loving, faithful, and obedient subjects, and 
to every of them, greeting. Whereas our most dear cousin 
Edward the 6th, late king of England, France, and Ireland, 
Defender of the Faith ; and on earth supreme head, under 
Christ, of the Church of England and Ireland ; by his letters 
patents, signed with his own hand, and sealed with his great 
seal of England, bearing date the 21st day of June, in the sev- 
enth year of his reign ; in the presence of the most part of 
his nobles, his counsellors, judges, and divers other grave 
and sage personages, for the profit and surety of his whole 
realm, thereto assenting and subscribing their names to the 
same, hath, by the same his letters patent, recited, foras- 
much as the imperial crown of his realm, by an act made in 
the 35th year of the reign of the late king, of worthy memory, 
king Henry the 8th, our progenitor, and great uncle, was, 
for lack of issue by his body lawfully begotten ; and for lack 
of issue of the body of our said late cousin king Edward the 
6th, by the same act, limited and appointed to remain to the 
lady Mary his eldest daughter, and to the heirs of her body 
lawfully begotten : and for default of such issue, the re- 
mainder thereof to the lady Elizabeth, by the name of the 

281 



282 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

lady Elizabeth his second daughter, and to the heirs of her 
body lawfully begotten; with such conditions as should be 
limited and appointed by the said late king of worthy mem- 
ory, king Henry the 8th, our progenitor, and great uncle, by 
his letters patent under his great seal, or by his last will 
in writing, signed with his hand. And forasmuch as the 
said limitation of the imperial crown of his realm being 
limited, as is aforesaid, to the said lady Mary, and lady 
Elizabeth, being illegitimate, and not lawfully begotton, for 
that the marriage had, between the said late king, king 
Henry the 8th, our progenitor, and great uncle, and the 
lady Katherine, mother of the said lady Mary; and also the 
marriage had between the said late king, king Henry the 
8th, our progenitor, and great uncle, and the lady Ann, 
mother of the said lady Elizabeth, were clearly and lawfully 
undone, by sentences of divorce, according to the word of 
God, and the ecclesiastical laws; and which said several 
divorcements have been severally ratified and confirmed 
by authority of Parliament, and especially in the 28th year 
of the reign of king Henry the 8th, our said progenitor, 
and great uncle, remaining in force, strength, and effect, 
whereby, as well the said lady Mary, as also the said 
lady Elizabeth, to all intents and purposes, are, and been 
clearly disabled, to ask, claim, or challenge the said imperial 
crown, or any other of the honours, castles, manours, lord- 
ships, lands, tenements, or other hereditaments, as heir or 
heirs to our said late cousin king Edward the 6th, or as heir 
or heirs to any other person or persons whatsoever, as well 
for the cause before rehearsed, as also for that the said lady 
Mary, and lady Elizabeth, were unto our said late cousin but 
of the half-blood, and therefore by the ancient laws, statutes, 
and customs of this realm, be not inheritable unto our said 
late cousin, although they had been born in lawful matri- 
mony; as indeed they were not, as by the said sentences of 
divorce, and the said statute of the 28th year of the reign of 
king Henry the 8th, our said progenitor, and great uncle, 
plainly appeareth, and forasmuch also, as it is to be thought, 
or at the least much to be doubted, that if the said lady Mary, 
or lady Elizabeth, should hereafter have or enjoy the said 
imperial crown of this realm, and should then happen to 
marry with any stranger born out of this realm, that then the 
said stranger, having the government and the imperial crown 
in his hands, would adhere and practice not only to bring 
this noble, free realm into the tyranny and servitude of the 



I 



REACTION AGAINST PROTESTANTISM 283 

bishops of Rome, but also to have the laws and customs of 
his or their own native country or countries, to be practised 
and put in use within this realm, rather than the laws, stat- 
utes, and customs here of long time used; whereupon the 
title of inheritance, of all and singular the subjects of this 
realm to depend, to the peril of conscience, and the utter 
subversion of the common-weal of this realm : whereupon 
our said late dear cousin, weighing and considering within 
himself which ways and means were most convenient to be 
had for the stay of the said succession, in the said imperial 
crown, if it should please God to call our said late cousin 
out this transitory life, having no issue of his body; and 
calling to his remembrance, that we, and the lady Katherine, 
and the lady Mary, our sisters (being the daughters of the 
lady Frances, our natural mother, and then, and yet, wife of 
our natural and most loving father, Henry duke of Suffolk; 
and the lady Margaret, daughter of the lady Elianor, then 
deceased, sister of the said lady Frances, and the late wife 
of our cousin Henry earl of Cumberland) were very nigh 
of his grace's blood, of the part of his father's side, our said 
progenitor, and great uncle ; and being naturally born here, 
within the realm ; and for the very good opinion our said 
late cousin had of our said sisters' and cousin Margaret's 
good education, did therefore, upon good deliberation and 
advice herein had, and taken, by his said letters patents, 
declare, order, assign, limit, and appoint, that if it should 
fortune himself, our said late cousin, king Edward the Sixth, 
to decease, having no issue of his body lawfully, begotten, 
that then the said imperial crown of England and Ireland, 
and the confines of the same, and his title to the crown of 
the realm of France ; and all and singular honours, castles, 
prerogatives, privileges, preeminencies and authorities, ju- 
risdictions, dominions, possessions, and hereditaments, to 
our said late cousin, king Edward the Sixth, or to the said 
imperial crown belonging, or in any-wise appertaining, 
should, for lack of such issue of his body, remain, come, and 
be to the eldest son of the body of the said lady Frances, law- 
fully begotten, being born into the world in his life-time, and 
to the heirs males of the body of such eldest son lawfully be- 
gotten ; and so from son to son, as he should be of vicinity of 
birth of the body of the said lady Francis, lawfully begotten, 
being born into the world in our said late cousin's life-time, 
and to the heirs male of the body of every such son lawfully 
begotten. And for default of such son born into the world 



284 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

in his life-time, of the body of the said lady Frances, law- 
fully begotten ; and for lack of heirs males of every such son 
lawfully begotten, that then the said imperial crown, and all 
and singular other the premises, should remain, come, and 
be to us, by the name of the lady Jane, eldest daughter of 
the said lady Frances, and to the heirs male of our body 
lawfully begotten, and for the lack of such issue, then to the 
lady Katherine aforesaid, our said second sister, and the heirs 
male of her body lawfully begotten, with divers other re- 
mainders, as by the same letters-patents more plainly and 
at large it may and doth appear. Sithence the making of 
our letters patents, that is to say, on Thursday, which was 
the 6th day of this instant month of July, it hath pleased God 
to call unto his infinite mercy our said most dear and entirely 
beloved cousin Edward the Sixth, whose soul God pardon; 
and forasmuch as he is now deceased, having no heirs of his 
body begotten; and that also there remaineth at this present 
time no heirs lawfully begotten, of the body of our said pro- 
genitor, and great uncle, king Henry the Eighth ; and for- 
asmuch also as the said lady Frances, our said mother, had 
no issue begotten of her body, and born into the world, in 
the life-time of our said cousin king Edward the Sixth, so 
as the said imperial crown, and other the premises to the 
same belonging, or in any-wise appertaining, now be, and 
remain to us, in our actual and royal possession, by authority 
of the said letters patents : we do therefore by these presents 
signify, unto all our most loving, faithful, and obedient sub- 
jects, that like-as we for our part shall, by God's grace, shew 
ourselves a most gracious and benign sovereign queen and 
lady to all our good subjects, in all their just and lawful suits 
and causes; and to the uttermost of our power, shall preserve 
and maintain God's most holy word. Christian policy, and 
the good laws, customs, and liberties of these our realms and 
dominions; so we mistrust not but they, and every of them, 
will again, for their parts, at all times, and in all cases, shew 
themselves unto us, their natural liege queen and lady, most 
faithful, loving, and obedient subjects, according to their 
bounden duties and allegiance, whereby they shall please 
God, and do the things that shall tend to their own preserva- 
tion and sureties; willing and commanding all men, of all 
estates, degrees, and conditions, to see our peace and accord 
kept, and to be obedient to our laws, as they tender our 
favour, and will answer for the contrary at their extreme 
perils. In witness whereof, we have caused these our letters 



I 



REACTION AGAINST PROTESTANTISM 2S5 

to be made patents. Witness ourself, at our Tower of Lon- 
don, the tenth day of July, in the first year of our reign. 

God save the Queen. 

{Collection o/ Records, Burnet, ed. cit., ccliii.) 

127. Execution of Lady Jane Grey 

Foxe 

The brief reign of Lady Jane Grey Dudley was brought to a 
pathetic close with her condemnation to death. Her bearing on 
the scaffold was marked by resignation and dignity, and the 
sympathies of all, even those who were opposed to her claim as 
queen, were given to the young girl who died so bravely. 

These are the words that the lady Jane spake upon the 
scaffold, at the hour of her death. First, when she mounted 
upon the scaffold, she said to the people standing thereabout, 
"Good people, I am come hither to die, and by a law I am 
condemned to the same. The fact against the queen's high- 
ness was unlawful, and the consenting thereunto by me : but 
touching the procurement or desire thereof by me, or on my 
behalf, I do wash my hands thereof in innocency before God, 
and the face of you, good Christian people, this day :" and 
therewith she wrung her hands, wherein she had her book. 
Then said she, 'T pray you all, good Christian people, to bear 
me witness that I die a true Christian woman, and that I do 
look to be saved by no other mean, but only by the mercy of 
God, in the blood of his only son Jesus Christ: and I confess, 
that when I did know the word of God, I neglected the same, 
loved myself and the world; and therefore this plague and 
punishment is happily and worthily happened unto me for 
my sins; and yet I thank God, that of his goodness he hath 
thus given me a time and respite to repent. And now, good 
people, while I am alive, I pray you to assist me with your 
prayers." And then, kneeling down, she turned her to Feck- 
nam, saying: "Shall I say this psalm?" And he said, "Yea." 
Then said she the psalm of "Miserere nici Dens" in English, 
in most devout manner, throughout to the end ; and then she 
stood up, and gave her maiden, mistress Ellen, her gloves 
and handkerchief, and her book to master Bruges. And 
then she untied her gown, and the hangman pressed upon her 
to help her off with it ; but she, desiring him to let her alone, 
turned towards her two gentlewomen, who helped her off 
therewith, and also with her frowes paste and neckerchief, 
giving to her a fair handkerchief to knit about her eyes. 

Then the hangman kneeled down and asked her forgive- 



286 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

ness, whom she forgave most willingly. Then he willed her 
to stand upon the straw; which doing, she saw the block. 
Then she said, *T pray you despatch me quickly." Then she 
kneeled down, saying, "Will you take it off, before I lay me 
down?" And the hangman said, **No, madam." Then tied»| 
she the handkerchief about her eyes, and feeling for the. 
block, she said, "What shall I do? Where is it? Where is 
it?" One of the standers-by guiding her thereunto she laid 
her head down upon the block, and then stretched forth her 
body, and said, "Lord, into thy hands I commend my spirit;" 
and so finished her life, in the year of our Lord God 1554, 
the I2th day of February. 

{Acts and Mominients, of John Foxe, ed. J. Pratt, Lond. n. d. 4th ed., VI, 423.) 

128. Mary's Claim to the Throne 

Acts and Memorials, Foxe 

That the claim of Lady Jane Grey was not without strong 
support is shown by the following correspondence between Mary 
and the lords of the council. The answer of the prominent lords 
to the claim of Mary is very sharp in its tone, and some of the 
Protestants afterward paid dearly for their partisanship of Lady 
Jane and for their strictures upon the legitimacy of Mary. 

My lords, we greet you well, and have received sure adver- 
tisement, that our dearest brother the king, our late sover- 
eign lord, is departed to God's mercy; which news how wo- 
ful they be unto our heart, he only knoweth, to whose will 
and pleasure we must, and do, humbly submit us and our 
wills. But in this so lamentable a case, that is to wit now, 
after his majesty's departure and death, concerning the 
crown and governance of this realm of England, with the 
title of France, and all things thereto belonging, what hath 
been provided by act of Parliament, and the testament and 
last will of our dearest father, besides other circumstances 
advancing our right, you know, the realm and the whole 
world knoweth ; the rolls and records appear by the authority 
of the king our said father, and the king our said brother, 
and the subjects of this realm; so that we verily trust that 
there is no true good subject, that is, can, or would pretend 
to be ignorant thereof ; and of our part we have of ourselves 
caused, and, as God shall aid and strengthen us, shall cause, 
our right and title in this behalf to be published and pro- 
claimed accordingly. And albeit this so weighty matter 
seemeth strange, that our said brother, dying upon Thursday, 
at night last past, we hitherto had no knowledge from you 



REACTION AGAINST PROTESTANTISM 287 

thereof, yet we consider your wisdoms and prudence to be 
such, that having eftsoons among you debated, pondered, and 
well weighed this present case with our estate, with your 
own estate, the commonwealth, and all our honours, w^e shall 
and may conceive great hope and trust, with much assurance 
in your loyalty and service ; and therefore for the time inter- 
pret and take things not to the worst, and that ye will, like 
noblemen, work the best. Nevertheless, we are not ignorant 
of your consultations, to undo the provisions made for our 
preferment, nor of the great bands, and provisions forcible, 
wherewith ye be assembled and prepared — by whom, and to 
what end, God and you know, and nature cannot but fear 
some evil. But be it that some consideration politic, or 
whatsoever thing else hath moved you thereto ; yet doubt you 
not, my lords, but we can take all these your doings in gra- 
cious part, being also right ready to remit and fully pardon 
the same, and that freely, to eschew bloodshed and vengeance, 
against all those that can or will intend the same; trust- 
ing also assuredly you will take and accept this grace and 
virtue in good part, as appertaineth, and that we shall not be 
enforced to use the service of others our true subjects and 
friends, which in this our just and right cause, God, in whom 
our whole affiance is, shall send us. Wherefore, my lords, 
we require you, and charge you and every of you, that of 
your allegiance which you owe to God and us, and to none 
other, for our honour and the surety of our person, only em- 
ploy yourselves, and forthwith, upon receipt hereof, cause 
our right and title to the crown and government of this 
realm to be proclaimed in our city of London and other 
places, as to your wisdom shall seem good, and as to this 
case appertaineth ; not failing hereof as our very trust is in 
you. And this our letter, signed with our hand, shall be 
your sufficient warrant in this behalf. 

Given under our signet, at our Manor of Kenning-hall, 
the ninth of July, 1553. 

(Ads and Monuments, of John Foxe, ed. cit., VI, 385.) 

128a. Answer of the Lords of the Council unto the Lady Mary's 

Letter 

Madam, we have received your letters, the ninth of this in- 
stant, declaring your supposed title, which you judge your- 
self to have, to the imperial crown of this realm, and all the 
dominions thereunto belonging. For answer whereof, this 
is to advertise you, that forasmuch as our sovereign lady 



288 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

queen Jane is, after the death of our sovereign lord Edward 
the Sixth, a prince of most noble memory, invested and pos- 
sessed with the just and right title in the imperial crown of 
this realm, not only by good order of old ancient laws of this 
realm, but also by our late sovereign lord's letters patent, 
signed with his own hand, and sealed with the great seal of 
England in presence of the most part of the nobles, coun- 
cillors, judges, with divers other grave and sage personages, 
assenting and subscribing to the same: we must, therefore, 
as of most bounden duty and allegiance, assent unto her said 
grace, and to none other, except we should (which faithful 
subjects cannot) fall into grievous and unspeakable enormi- 
ties. Wherefore we can no less do, but, for the quiet both 
of the realm and you also, to advertise you, that forasmuch 
as the divorce made between the king of famous memory, 
king Henry the Eighth, and the lady Katherine your mother^ 
was necessary to be had both by the everlasting laws of God, 
and also by the ecclesiastical laws, and by the most part of 
the noble and learned universities of Christendom, and con- 
firmed also by the sundry acts of parliaments remaining yet 
in their force, and thereby you justly made illegitimate and 
unheritable to the crown imperial of this realm, and the 
rules, and dominions, and possessions of the same, you will, 
upon just consideration hereof, and of divers other causes 
lawful to be alleged for the same, and for the just inheritance 
of the right line and godly order taken by the late king our 
sovereign lord king Edward the Sixth, and agreed upon by- 
the nobles and greatest personages aforesaid, surcease byf 
any pretence to vex and molest any of our sovereign lady 
queen Jane's subjects from their true faith and allegiance due 
unto her grace: assuring you, that if you will for respect 
show yourself quiet and obedient (as you ought), you shall 
find us all and several ready to do you any service that we 
with duty may, and be glad, with your quietness, to preserve 
the common state of this realm, wherein you may be otherwise 
grievous unto us, to yourself, and to them. And thus we bid 
you most heartily well to fare. From the Tower of London, 
in this ninth of July, 1553. 

Your Ladyship's friends, showing yourself an obedient 

subject. 

Thomas Canterbury. Shrewsbury. John Gates. 

The Marquis of Winchester. Pembroke. W. Peter. 



REACTION AGAINST PROTESTANTISM 



289 



John Bedford. 
William Northampton. 
Thomas Ely, chancellor. 
Northumberland. 
Henry Suffolk. 
Henry Arundel. 



Cobham. W. Cecil. 

R. Riche. John Cheke. 
Huntingdon. John Mason. 
Darcy. Edward North. 

Cheney. R. Bowes. 

R. Cotton. 

(^Acts and Monitvtents, Foxe, ed. cit., VI, 386.) 



129. Mary's Status as Queen 

(i Marv, s. 3, 1553) 

Statutes at Large of England 

The question of the status of a queen regnant had never been 
legally fixed. Custom had given to the queen consort many 
rights, privileges, and powers, but it had not found occasion to 
fix the amount of power vested in that unknown quantity in 
England, a reigning queen. The question was raised as to 
whether a woman could rule England. The Salic Law appeared 
to forbid, and favourable precedent was lacking. It was there- 
fore necessary to define and confirm the status of the queen by 
an Act of Parliament. 

An Act declaring that the regal power of this realm is 
IN the queen's majesty, as fully and absolutely as 
ever it was in any of her most noble progenitors, 

KINGS of this realm. 



Forasmuch as the imperial crown of this realm, with all 
dignities, honours, prerogatives, authorities, jurisdictions 
and preeminences thereunto annexed, united and belong- 
ing, by the divine providence of Almighty God, is most 
lawfully, justly and rightfully descended and come unto the 
Queen's Highness that now is, being the very, true and un- 
doubted heir and inheritrix thereof, and invested in her 
most royal person, according unto the laws of this realm: 
And by force and virtue of the same, all regal power, 
dignity, honour, authority, prerogative, preeminence and 
jurisdictions doth appertain, and of right ought to apper- 
tain and belong unto her Highness, as unto the sovereign 
supreme governor and queen of this realm, and of the do- 
minions thereof, is as full, large and ample manner, as it 
hath done heretofore to any other her most noble progeni- 
tors, kings of this realm : Nevertheless, the most ancient 
statutes of this realm, being made by kings then reigning, 
do not only atribute and refer all prerogative, preeminence, 
power and jurisdiction royal unto the name of king, but 
also do give, assign and appoint the correction and punish- 



290 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

ment of all offenders against the regality and dignity of 
the crown, and the laws of this realm, unto the king: By 
occasion whereof, the malicious and ignorant persons may 
be hereafter induced and persuaded unto this error and 
folly, to think that her Highness could nor should have, en- 
joy and use such like royal authority, power, preeminence, 
prerogative and jurisdiction, nor do nor execute and use all 
things concerning the said statutes, and take the benefit 
and privilege of the same, nor correct and punish offenders 
against her most royal person and the regality and dignity 
of the crown of this realm and the dominions thereof, as 
the kings of this realm, her most noble progenitors, have 
heretofore done, enjoyed, used and exercised. 

II. For the avoiding and clear extinguishment of which 
said error or doubt, and for a plain declaration of the laws 
of this realm in that behalf. 

III. Be it declared and enacted by the authority of this 
present Parliament, That the law of this realm is, and ever 
hath been, and ought to be understood, that the kingly or 
regal office of his realm, and all dignities, prerogatives 
royal, power, preeminences, privileges, authorities and 
jurisdictions thereunto annexed, united or belonging, being 
invested either in male or female, are and be, and ought to 
be, as fully, wholly, absolutely and entirely deemed, judged, 
accepted, invested and taken in the one as in the other; so 
that what or whensoever statute or law doth limit and ap- 
point that the king of this realm may or shall have, execute 
and do any thing as king, or doth give any profit or com- 
modity to the king, or doth limit or appoint any pains or 
punishment for the corrections of offenders or transgres- 
sors against the regality and dignity of the king or of the 
crown; the same, the Queen (being supreme) governess, 
possessor and inheritrix to the imperial crown of this 
realm, as our said sovereign lady the Queen most justly 
presently is, may be the same authority and power likewise 
have, exercise, execute, punish, correct and do, to all intents, 
constructions and purposes, without doubt, ambiguity, 
scruple or question; any custom, use or scruple, or any 
other thing whatsoever to be made to the contrary notwith- 
standing. 

(Ed. from Statutes at Large, ed. cit., IV, 3.) 



REACTION AGAINST PROTESTANTISM 291 

130. Mary Attempts to restore Church Lands 

(1554) 

Somers'' Tracts 

The fidelity of Queen Mary to the Catholic Church was dis- 
played in many ways. Her attitude toward heretics has been 
shown, and the following Act indicates another phase in her 
desire to restore to the Church the lands taken from it during 
the previous reigns. The attempt was only partially successful, 
as vested private interests were too strong to be abrogated, 
especially as their possessors formed the legislature through 
which Mary sought to effect the restitution. 

A SPEECH OF QUEEN MARY'S TO HER COUNCIL^ UPON HER RE- 
SOLUTION OF RESTORING CHURCH LANDS. ANNO REG. 
MAR. 4. 

We have willed you to be called to us, to the intent you 
might hear of me, my conscience, and the resolution of my 
mind, concerning the lands and possessions, as v^ell of mon- 
asteries, as other churches whatsoever, being now in my pos- 
session. 

First, I do consider, that the said lands were taken away 
from the churches aforesaid in time of schism ; and that by 
unlawful means, such as are contrary both to the law of God, 
and of the church : for which cause my conscience doth not 
suffer me to detain them. And therefore I here expressly 
refuse, either to claim, or retain those lands for mine: but 
with all my heart, freely and willingly, without all paction 
or condition, here, and before God, I do surrender and relin- 
quish the said lands and possessions, or inheritances what- 
soever; and renounce the same with this mind and purpose, 
that order and disposition thereof may be taken, as shall 
seem best liking to the Pope, or his legate, to the honour of 
God, and the wealth of this our realm. And albeit you may 
object to me again. That the state of my kingdom, the dignity 
thereof, and my crown imperial, cannot be honourably main- 
tained and furnished without the possessions aforesaid: yet 
notwithstanding (and so she had affirmed before, when she 
was bent upon the restitution of the tenths and first fruits), 
I set more by the salvation of my soul, than by ten such king- 
doms : and therefore the said possessions I utterly refuse 
here to hold, after that sort and title : and I give most hearty 
thanks to God, who hath given me a husband of the same 
mind, who hath no less good affection in his behalf, than I 
myself. Wherefore I charge and command that my chan- 
cellor, (with whom I have conferred my mind in this mat- 



292 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

ter,) and you four, to resort to-morrow together, to the 
legate, signifying to him the premises in my name. And give 
your attendance upon me, for the more full declaration o^j 
the state of my kingdom, and of the aforesaid possessions, 
according as you yourselves do understand the matter, and 
can inform him in the same. 

{CoUectioti of Tracts, Somers', ed. by Walter Scott, Lond., 1809. I, 56.) 

131. Mary's Orders for the Execution of John Hooper 

('555) 

Historical Doctinieiits, Goldstmd 

Mary's extreme anxiety for the stamping out of heresy may be 
seen in her instructions as to the execution of Hooper. He was 
not to be allowed to speak lest he should further spread his 
pernicious doctrines. The original manuscript is subscribed "A 
True Copy of an Old Paper in my Custody, which seems to be 
the first Draught of a Letter from the Queen to the lord Chan- 
dois, etc., who went to see Execution done on Bishop Hooper." 

Right Trusty and Well-beloved, etc. Whereas John 
Hooper, who of late was called Bishop of Worcester and 
Gloucester, is, by due order of the laws Ecclesiastique,con- 
dempned and judged for a moste obstinate, false, detestable 
Heretique, and committed to our Secular Power, to be burned 
according to the holsome and good Lawes of our Realme in 
that Case provided. Forasmuche as in those Cityes, and the 
Diocesse thereof, he hath in Tymes paste preached and taught 
most pestilent Heresyes and Doctryne to our Subjects there: 
We have therefore geven Order, that the said Hooper, who 
yet persisteth obstinate, and hath refused Mercy when it was 
gracyously offred, shall be put to Execution in the sayd Cytie 
of Gloucester, for the Example and Terror of suche as he 
hath there seduced and mistaught, and bycause he hath doone 
moste Harme there. And woll that you, calling unto you 
some of Reputation dwelling in the Shire, such as ye thinke 
best, shall repayre unto our said Cytye, and be at the said 
Execution, assisting our Mayor and Shriefs of the same 
Cytie, in this Behalf. And forasmuche also as the said 
Hooper is, as Heretiques be, a vain-glorious Person, and 
delyteth in his Tongue, and having Liberty, may use his sayd 
Tongue to perswade such as he hath seduced, to persist in 
the myserable Opinion that he hath sowen among them: 
Our Pleasure is therefore, and we require you to take Order, 
that the said Hooper be neither, at the Tyme of his Execu- 
tion, nor in goyng to the Place thereof, suffred to speak at 
large; but thither to be ledde quietly, and in Sylence, for 



REACTION AGAINST PROTESTANTISM 293 

eschuyng of further Infection, and such Inconvenyence, as 
may otherwise ensue in this Parte. Whereof fayle not, as 
ye tender our Pleasure . . . 

A True Copy of an Old Paper in my Custody, which 
seems to be the first Draught of a Letter from the Queen to 
the Lord Chandois, etc., who went to see Execution done on 
Bishop Hooper. 

Thom. Tanner. 

(Collection of Historical Docunients Illustrative of the Reigns of the Tudor 
and Stuart Sovereigns. Ed. by E. Goldsmid, Edinburg, 1886. II, 16.) 

132. The Burning of Ridley and Latimer 

Foxe 

The History of the Acts and Monuments of the Church has 
had, under the name of the Book of Martyrs, a wide circulation 
among Protestants. The writer, John Foxe (1517-1587) was a 
man of great discernment and unquestioned integrity, and his 
work is a leading source for the Reformation period. The 
execution of bishops Ridley and Latimer has been selected as 
typical of such scenes. In a later page is given (No. 141), as 
contrast, an execution of a Catholic during the reign of Eliza- 
beth. 

THE BEHAVIOUR OF DR. RIDLEY AND MASTER LATIMER, AT THE 
TIME OF THEIR DEATH, WHICH WAS THE i6tH OF OCTOBER, 

1555. 

Upon the north-side of the town, in the ditch over against 
Balliol-college, the place of execution was appointed : and 
for fear of any tumult that might arise, to let the burning of 
them, the lord Williams was commanded, by the queen's let- 
ters, and the householders of the city, to be there assistant, 
sufficiently appointed. And when every thing was in readi- 
ness, the prisoners were brought forth by the mayor and the 
bailiffs. 

Master Ridley had a fair black gown furred, and faced 
with foins, such as he was wont to wear being bishop, and a 
tippet of velvet furred likewise about his neck, a velvet night- 
cap upon his head, and a corner cap upon the same, going in 
a pair of slippers to the stake, and going between the mayor 
and an alderman, etc. 

After him came master Latimer in a poor Bristol frieze 
frock all worn, with his buttoned cap, and a kerchief on his 
head, all ready to the fire, a new long shroud hanging over 
his hosC; down to the feet: which at the first sight stirred 



294 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

men's hearts to rue upon them, beholding on the one side, 
the honour they sometime had, and on the other, the calamity 
whereunto they were fallen. 

Master doctor Ridley, as he passed toward Bocardo, looked 
up where master Cranmer did lie, hoping belike to have seen 
him at the glass-window, and to have spoken unto him. Bu 
then master Cranmer was busy with friar Soto and hisj 
fellows, disputing together, so that he could not see him, 
through that occasion. Then master Ridley, looking back, 
espied master Latimer coming after, unto whom he said, 
"Oh, be ye there?" "Yea," said Master Latimer, "have 
after as fast as I can follow." So he, following a pretty 
way off, at length they came both to the stake, the one after 
the other, where first Dr. Ridley entering the place, marvel- 
lous earnestly holding up both his hands, looked towards 
heaven. Then shortly after espying master Latimer, with a 
wonderous cheerful look he ran to thim, embraced, and kissed 
him; and, as they that stood near reported, comforted him, 
saying, " Be of good heart, brother, for God will either as- 
suage the fury of the flame, or else strengthen us to abide it." 

With that went he to the stake, kneeled down by it, kissed 
it, and most effectuously prayed, and behind him master Lati- 
mer kneeled, as earnestly calling upon God as he. After 
they arose, the one talked with the other a little while, till 
they which were appointed to see the execution, removed 
themselves out of the sun. What they said I can learn of 
no man. . . . 

Incontinently they were commanded to make them ready, 
which they with all meekness obeyed. Master Ridley took 
his gown and his tippet, and gave it to his brother-in-law 
Shipside, who all his time of imprisonment, although he 
might not be suffered to come to him, lay there at his own 
charges to provide him necessaries, which from time to time 
he sent him by the serjeant that kept him. Some other of 
his apparel that was little worth, he gave away; other the 
bailiffs took. 

He gave away besides, divers other small things to gentle- 
men standing by, and divers of them pitifully weeping, as to 
sir Henry Lea he gave a new groat ; and to divers of my lord 
William's gentlemen some napkins, some nutmegs, and rases 
of ginger; his dial, and such other things as he had about 
him, to every one that stood next him. Some plucked the 
points off his hose. Happy was he that might get any rag 
of him. 



1 



REACTION AGAINST PROTESTANTISM 295 

Master Latimer gave nothing, but very quietly suffered 
his keeper to pull off his hose, and his other array, which to 
look unto was very simple : and being stripped into his 
shroud, he seemed as comely a person to them that were there 
present, as one should lightly see; and whereas in his clothes 
he appeared a withered and crooked silly old man, he now 
stood bolt upright, as comely a father as one might lightly 
behold. 

Then master Ridley, standing as yet in his truss, said to 
his brother, "It were best for me to go in my truss still." 
"No," quoth his brother, "it will put you to more pain : and 
the truss will do a poor man good." Whereunto master Ridley 
said, "Be it, in the name of God ;" and so unlaced himself. 
Then, being in his shirt, he stood upon the foresaid stone, 
and held up his hand and said, "O heavenly Father, I give 
unto thee most hearty thanks, for that thou hast called me to 
be a professor of thee, even unto death. I beseech thee, Lord 
God, take mercy upon this realm of England, and deliver the 
same from all her enemies." 

Then the smith took a chain of iron, and brought the same 
about both Dr. Ridley's, and master Latimer's middles : and, 
as he was knocking in a staple. Dr. Ridley took the chain 
in his hand, and shaked the same, for it did gird in his belly, 
and looking aside to the smith said, "Good fellow, knock it in 
hard, for the flesh will have his course." Then his brother 
did bring him gunpowder in a bag, and would have tied the 
same about his neck. Master Ridley asked, what it was. 
His brother said, "Gunpowder." "Then," said he, "I take it 
to be sent of God; therefore I will receive it as sent of him. 
And have you any," said he, "for my brother;" meaning 
master Latimer. '"Yea sir, that I have," quoth his brother. 
"Then give it unto him," said he, "betime; lest ye come too 
late." So his brother went, and carried of the same gun- 
powder unto master Latimer. 

In the mean time Dr. Ridley spake unto my lord Williams, 
and said, "My lord, I must be a suitor unto your lordship in 
the behalf of divers poor men, and especially in the cause of 
my poor sister : I have made a supplication to the queen's 
majesty in their behalfs. I beseech your lordship for Christ's 
sake, to be a mean to her grace for them. My brother here 
hath the supplication, and will resort to your lordship to 
certify you thereof. There is nothing in all the world that 
troubleth my conscience, I praise God, this only excepted. 
Whilst I was in the see of London, divers poor men took 



296 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

leases of me, and agreed with me for the same. Now I hear 
say the bishop that now occupieth the same room, will not 
allow my grants unto them made, but, contrary unto all law 
and conscience, hath taken from them their livings, and will 
not suffer them to enjoy the same. I beseech you, my lord, 
be a mean for them : you shall do a good deed, and God will 
reward you." 

Then they brought a faggot, kindled with fire, and laid the 
same down at Dr. Ridley's feet. To whom master Latimer 
spake in this manner: "Be of good comfort, master Ridley, 
and play the man. We shall this day light such a candle, by 
God's grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out." 

And so the fire being given unto them, when Dr. Ridley 
saw the fire flame up towards him, he cried with a wonderful 
loud voice, "In manus tiias, Domine, commendo spiritum 
meum: Domine recipe spiritum meum." And after, repeated 
this latter part often in English, "Lord, Lord, receive my 
spirit;" master Latimer crying as vehemently on the other 
side, "O Father of heaven, receive my soul !" who received 
the flame as it were embracing of it. After that he had 
stroked his face with his hands, and as it were bathed them a 
little in the fire, he soon died (as it appeareth) with very 
little pain or none. And thus much concerning the end of 
this old and blessed servant of God, master Latimer, for 
whose laborious travails, fruitful life, and constant death, 
the whole realm hath cause to give great thanks to Almighty 
God. 

But master Ridley, by reason of the evil making of the fire 
unto him, because the wooden faggots were laid about the 
gorse, and overhigh built, the fire burned first beneath, being 
kept down by the wood ; which when he felt, he desired them 
for Christ's sake to let the fire come unto him. Which when 
his brother-in-law heard, but not well understood, intending 
to rid him out of his pain (for the which cause he gave at- 
tendance), as one of such sorrow not well advised what he 
did, heaped faggots upon him, so that he clean covered him, 
which made the fire more vehement beneath, that it burned 
clean all his nether parts, before it once touched the upper; 
and that made him leap up and down under the faggots, and 
often desire them to let the fire come unto him, saying, "I 
cannot burn." Which indeed appeared well; for, after his 
legs were consumed by reason of his struggling through the 
pain (whereof he had no release, but only his contentation in 
God), he showed that side toward us clean, shirt and all un- 



REACTION AGAINST PROTESTANTISM 297 

touched with flame. Yet in all this torment he forgot not 
to call unto God still, having in his mouth, "Lord have mercy 
upon me," intermingling his cry, "Let the fire come unto me, 
I cannot burn." In which pangs he laboured till one of the 
standers by with his bill pulled off the faggots above, and 
where he saw the fire flame up, he wrested himself unto that 
side. And when the flame touched the gunpowder, he was 
seen to stir no more, but burned on the other side, falling 
down at master Latimer's feet; which, some said, happened 
by reason that the chain loosed ; others said, that he fell over 
the chain by reason of the poise of his body, and the weak- 
ness of the nether limbs. 

{Acis mid Monuments, Foxe, ed. cit., VII, 547.) 



CHAPTER XVIII 



ELIZABETH 



133. Classes of the People in the XVIth Century 

Smith 

Sir Thomas Smith (1512-1577), in his capacity of Secretary 
of State under Elizabeth, enjoyed peculiar opportunities of ob- 
ircrvation, which his wide learning and philosophical inclination 
enabled him to use to great result. His description of the 
classes of the people is accurate and comprehensive. It is taken 
from the best known of his works, the posthumous volume en- 
titled De Republica Anglorum — a work which passed through 
many editions and is one of the classics of English Constitutional 
History. 

Of the first part of Gentlemen of England, called nobilitas 

major. 

... In England no man is created a baron, except he may 
dispend of yearly revenue one thousand pounds, or one thou- 
sand marks at the least . . . 

Of the second sort of Gentlemen, which may be called nobi- 
litas minor, and first of knights. 

No man is a knight by succession, not the king or 
prince . . . : knights therefore be not born but made ... In 
England whosoever may dispend of his free lands forty 
pounds sterling of yearly revenue . . . may be by the king 
compelled to take that order and honour, or to pay a fine . . . 

Of Esquires. 

Esquires (which we commonly call squires) be all those 
which bear arms (as we call them) or armories . . . these be 
taken for no distinct order of the commonwealth, but do go 
with the residue of the gentlemen . . . 

298 



ELIZABETH 299 

Of Gentlemen. 

Gentlemen be those whom their blood and race doth make 
noble and known . . . Ordinarily the king doth only make 
knights and create barons or higher degrees, for as for 
gentlemen they be made good cheap in England. For who- 
soever studieth the law^s of the realm, who studieth in the 
Universities, who professeth liberal sciences, and to be short, 
who can live idly and without manual labour, and will bear 
the port, charge and countenance of a gentleman, he shall 
be called master, . . . and be taken for a gentleman . . . 

Of Yeomen. 

Those whom we call yeomen, next unto the nobility, 
knights and squires, have the greatest charge and doings in 
the commonwealth ... I call him a yeoman whom our laws do 
call legalem hoininem . . . which is a freeman born English, 
and may dispend of his own free land in yearly revenue to 
the sum of 40^. sterling . . . This sort of people confess them- 
selves to be no gentlemen . . . and yet they have a certain 
preeminence and more estimation than labourers and arti- 
ficers, and commonly live wealthily . . . These be (for the 
most part) farmers unto gentlemen, . . . and by these means 
do come to such wealth, that they are able and daily do buy 
the lands of unthrifty gentlemen, and after setting their sons 
to the school at the Universities, to the laws of the realm, or 
otherwise leaving them sufficient lands whereon they may 
live without labour, do make their said sons by those means 
gentlemen . . . 

Of the fourth sort of men which do not rule. 

The fourth sort or class amongst us, is of those which the 
old Romans called capite censi . . . day labourers, poor hus- 
bandmen, yea merchants or retailers which have no free 
land, copyholders and all artificers . . . These have no voice 
nor authority in our commonwealth, and no account is made 
of them, but only to be ruled. 

{Manner of Government or Policies of the Realme of Engla7id, ed. 1589. 
Bk. I, c. 17-24.) 

Of Bondage and Bondmen. 

After that we have spoken of all the sorts of freemen, 
according to the diversity of their estates and persons, it 



300 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

resteth to say somewhat of bondmen . . . The Romans had 
two kinds of bondmen, the one which were called servi . , . 
all those kind of bondmen be called in our law villains in 
gross . . . Another they had . . . which they called adscriptitii 
glehcB . . . and in our law are called villains regardant ... Of 
the first I never knew any in the realm in my time; of the 
second, so few there be, that it is not almost worth the speak- 
ing, but our law doth acknowledge them in both those sorts. 

(T/ie ComTnonwealth of England, ed. 1589, Bk. Ill, c. 10.) 

RELIGIOUS SECTS IN THE TIME OF ELIZABETH 

The four great religious parties of the age of Elizabeth were 
the Anglican, the Catholic, the Presbyterian, and the Puritan, 
The attitude of the Catholic Church needs no illustration. The 
positions of the other sects are well illustrated by the excerpts 
which follow. For exposition of the Anglican stand we have 
selected extracts from the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity, by 
Richard Hooker (1553-1600). No man stands as prominently 
as the exponent of the doctrines of the Church of England as 
does this divine. Richard Bancroft (1544-1610), Archbishop of 
Canterbury, was the bitter and uncompromising opponent of the 
Puritans, a staunch and even violent supporter of the royal 
power and episcopal system ; but his sympathies and teachings 
were those which led to Presbyterianism in its modern form. 
The Convocation of 1583 tersely and yet comprehensively for- 
mulated the Puritan demands ; and the articles drawn up in 
1583 by John Whitgift (1530 or 1533-1604), Archbishop of 
Canterbury, mark the latest stage of ecclesiastical development 
in the Elizabethan period. 

134. The Anglican Standpoint 

Hooker 

(a) The plain intent of the Book of Ecclesiastical Dis- 
cipline is to shew that men may not devise laws of church 
government, but are bound for ever to use and to execute 
only those which God himself hath already devised and de- 
livered in the scripture. The self -same drift the Admoni- 
tioners also had, in urging that nothing ought to be done in 
the Church according unto any law of man's devising, but all 
according to that which God in his word hath commanded . . . 
Demand of them, wherefore they conform not themselves 
unto the order of our Church, and in every particular their 
answer for the most part is, 'We find no such thing com- 
manded in the world.' 

(b) Touching points of doctrine, as for example the Unity 
of God, . . . they have been since the first hour that there was 
a Church in the world, and till the last they must be believed. 



ELIZABETH 301 

But as for matters of regiment, they are for the most part of 
another nature. To make new articles of faith and doctrine 
no man thinketh it lawful ; new laws of government what 
commonwealth or church is there which maketh not either 
at one time or another? . . . There is no reason in the world 
wherefore we should esteem it as necessary always to do, as 
always to believe the same things ; seeing every man knoweth 
that the matter of faith is constant, the matter contrariwise 
of action daily changeable, especially the matter of action 
belonging unto church polity. 

(c) Let not any man imagine, that the bare and naked 
difference of a few ceremonies could either have kindled so 
much fire, or have caused it to flame so long; but that the 
parties which herein laboured mightily for change and (as 
they say) for reformation, had somewhat more than this 
mark only whereat to aim. Having therefore drawn out a 
complete form, as they supposed, of public service to be done 
to God, and set down their plot for the office of the ministry 
in that behalf, they very well knew how little their labours so 
far forth bestowed would avail them in the end, without a 
claim of jurisdiction to uphold the fabric which they had 
erected; and this neither likely to be obtained but by the 
strong hand of the people, nor the people unlikely to favour 
it; the more if overture were made of their own interest, 
right and title thereunto. 

{d) This we boldly set down as a most infallible truth, 
that the Church of Christ is at this day lawfully, and so hath 
been since the fir.st beginning, governed by bishops, having 
permanent superiority and ruling power over other ministers 
of the word and sacraments . . . Let us not fear to be herein 
bold and peremptory, that, if anything in the Church's 
government, surely the first institution of bishops was from 
heaven, was even of God: the Holy Ghost was the author 
of it. 

{e) The drift of all that hath been alleged to prove per- 
petual separation and independency between the Church and 
the Commonwealth is, that this being held necessary, it 
might consequently be thought, that in a Christian kingdom, 
he whose power is greatest over, the Commonwealth may not 
lawfully have supremacy of power also over the Oiurch . . . 
Whereupon it is grown a question whether power ecclesias- 
tical over the Church, power of dominion in such degree as 
the laws of this land do grant unto the sovereign governor 
thereof, may by the said supreme Head and Governor law- 



302 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

fully be enjoyed and held? . . . Unto which supreme power in 
kings two kinds of adversaries there are that have opposed 
themselves ; one sort defending 'that supreme power in 
causes ecclesiastical throughout the world appertaineth of 
divine right to the bishop of Rome/ another sort 'that the 
said power belongeth in every national Church unto the 
clergy thereof assembled.' We defend as well against the 
one as the other, 'that king's within their own precincts may 
have it.' 

{Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity, R. Hooker, ed. Keble,Lond., 1834.) 

135. The Presbyterian Position 

Bancroft 

For the first ten or eleven years of her Majesty's reign, 
through the . . . outcries and exclamations of those that came 
home from Geneva, against the garments prescribed to 
ministers and other such like matters, no man of any ex- 
perience is ignorant what great contention and strife was 
raised . . . 

About the twelfth year of her Highness' government, these 
malcontents . . . began to stir up new quarrels, concerning the 
Geneva discipline . . . Hereupon (the 14 of her Majesty) two 
Admonitions were framed, and exhibited to the High Court 
of Parliament. The first contained their pretended griefs, 
with a declaration, forsooth, of the only way to reform them, 
viz. by admitting of that platform which was there described. 
This Admonition finding small entertainment, (the authors 
or chief preferrers thereof being imprisoned), out cometh 
the Second Admonition, towards the end of the same par- 
liament ... In this Second Admonition, the first is wholly 
justified, . . . and in plain terms it is there affirmed that, if 
they of that assembly would not then follow the advice of 
the First Admonition, they would surely themselves be their 
own carvers . . . Whereupon, presently after the said parlia- 
ment (viz. the 2oth of November, 1572), there was a pres- 
bytery erected at Wandsworth in Surrey. 

. . . Hitherto it should seem that in all their former pro- 
ceedings they had relied chiefly upon the First Admonition 
and Cartwright's book . . . But now, at the length (about the 
year 1583), the form of discipline, which is lately come to 
light, was compiled: and thereupon an assembly or council 
being held (as I think at London, or at Cambridge), certain 
decrees were made concerning the establishing and the prac- 
tice thereof . . , 



. . ELIZABETH 303 

. . . About which time also [viz. 1587] . . . the further prac- 
tice of the discipline ... began to spread itself more freely; 
. . . but especially ... it was most friendly entertained among 
the ministers of Northamptonshire, as it appeareth in record 
by some of their own depositions, i6th of May, 1590, in these 
words following. About two years and a half since, the 
whole shire was divided into three Classes. I. The Classis 
of Northamptonshire ... IT. The Classis of Daventry side . . . 
III. The Classis of Kettering side .. .This device (saith 
Master Johnson) is commonly received in most parts of Eng- 
land, . . . but especially in Warwickshire, Suffolk, Norfolk. 
Essex, etc. 

The next year after, viz. 1588, the said Warwickshire 
classes, etc. assembling 'themselves together in council (as it 
seemeth, at Coventry), . . . there w^as ... a great approbation 
obtained of the aforesaid Book of Discipline . . . This book, 
having thus at the last received this great allowance more 
authentically, was carried far and near, for a general ratifi- 
cation of all the brethren . . . 

. . . Mutual conference is to be practised in the Church 
by common assemblies . . . Such as are to meet in the assem- 
blies, let them be chosen by the suffrages of those churches 
or assemblies that have interest or to do in it, and out of 
these let such only be chosen as have exercised the public 
office in that church either of a minister or of an elder . . . 

It shall be lawful for other elders and ministers, yea, and 
for deacons and students in divinity, by the appointment of 
the assembly ... to be both present, and to be asked their 
judgments . . . Yet let none be counted to have a voice, but 
those only that were chosen by the Church . . . 

It is expedient that in every ecclesiastical assembly there 
be a president, which may govern the assembly, and that he 
be from time to time changed . . . The assemblies according 
to their several kinds, if they be greater are of more, if they 
be less, they are of less authority. Therefore it is lawful to 
appeal from a less assembly to a greater . . . 

Assemblies are either Classes or Synods. 

Classes are conferences of the fewest ministers of churches, 
standing near together, as for example of twelve. The 
chosen men of all the several churches of that assembly are 
to meet in conference: that is to say, for every church a min- 
ister and an elder : and they shall meet every fortnight. They 
shall chiefly endeavour the oversight and censure of that 
Classis . . . 



304 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

A Synod Is an assembly of chosen men from more churches 
than those that be in one Classis or conference. 

In these, the articles of the holy discipline and synodical 
must always be read ; also in them . . . censures or inquisition 
made upon all that be present . . . 

Of Synods there be two sorts: the first is particular, and 
this containeth under it, both Provincial and National 
Synods. 

A Provincial Synod is an assembly of those which be 
delegated from all the Classes or Conferences of that prov- 
ince. Let every province contain in it 24 Classes . . . Let 
every Classis send unto the Provincial Synod two ministers 
and as many elders. It shall be called every half year, or 
more often, until the discipline be confirmed . . . 

Let the acts of all the Provincial Synods be sent unto the 
National . . . 

The National is a Synod consisting of the delegates from 
all the Synods Provincial that are within the dominion of 
one commonwealth ... 

For the National Synod, three ministers and three elders 
must be chosen out of every Synod Provincial. 

In it the common affairs of all the churches of the whole 
nation and kingdom are to be handled: as of doctrine, dis- 
cipline and ceremonies, causes not decided in inferior as- 
semblies, appellations and such like . . . 

. . . No follows the universal or Oecumenical Synod of the 
whole world. And this is the Synod that consisteth and is 
gathered together of the chosen men out of every particular 
national Synod. 

(^Dangerous Positions a7i.d Proceedings, Richard Bancroft, Lond., 1593.) 

136. Whitgift's Articles touching Preachers and other Orders 

for the Church 

I. That the laws late made against the recusants be put 
in more due execution, considering the benefit that hath 
grown unto the Church thereby, where they have been exe- 
cuted, and the encouragement which they and others do re- 
ceive by remiss executing thereof. 

II. That all preaching, reading, catechising and other 
such like exercises in private places and families whereunto 
others do resort, being not of the same family, be utterly 
inhibited . . . 

III. That none be permitted to preach, read or catechise 
in the church or elsewhere unless he do four times in the 



ELIZABETH 30S 

year at least say service and minister the sacraments accord- 
ing to the Book of Common Prayer. 

IV. That all preachers and others in ecclesiastical orders 
do at all times wear and use such kind of apparel as is 
prescribed unto them by the book of Advertisements and her 
Majesty's Injunctions anno pritno. 

V. That none be permitted to preach or interpret the 
Scriptures unless he be a priest or deacon at the least, ad- 
mitted thereunto according to the laws of this realm. 

VI. That none be permitted to preach, read, catechise, 
minister the sacraments or to execute any other ecclesias- 
tical function . . . unless he first consent and subscribe to 
these articles following . . . videlicet : 

(a) That her Majesty, under God, hath and ought to have 
the sovereignty and rule over all manner of persons born 
within her realms, dominions and countries, of what estate 
ecclesiastical or temporal soever they be ; and that no foreign 
power, prelate, state or potentate hath or ought to have any 
jurisdiction . . . authority ecclesiastical or temporal wnthin 
her Majesty's said realms, dominions and countries. 

(b) That the Book of Common Prayer and of ordering 
bishops, priests and deacons containeth nothing in it con- 
trary to the word of God, and that the same may lawfully 
be used, and that he himself will use the form of the said 
book prescribed in public prayer and administration of the 
sacraments, and none other. 

(c) That he alloweth the book of Articles of Religion, 
agreed upon by the archbishops and bishops in both provinces 
and the whole clergy in the Convocation holden at London 
in the year of our Lord God 1562 and set forth by her 
Majesty's authority, and that he believeth all the articles 
therein contained to be agreeable to the word of God. 

Jo. Cant. Jo. London. Jo. Sarum. 

Ed. Petriburg. Tho. Lincoln. Edm. Norwich. 

Jo. Roffen. Tho. Exon. Marmad. Meneven. 

{Li/e and Acts of John U'hitgift, John Strype ; I, pp. 228-232, Oxford, 1822.) 

137. Puritan Demands in Convocation of 1563 

I. That all the Sundays in the year, and principal feasts 
of Christ, be kept holydays; and all other holydays to be 
abrogated. 

II. That in all parish churches the minister in common 
prayer turn his face toward the people; and there distinctly 



3o6 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

read the divine service appointed, where all the people as- 
sembled may hear and be edified. 

III. That in ministering the sacrament of baptism, the 
ceremony of making the cross in the child's forehead may 
be omitted, as tending to superstition. 

IV. That, forasmuch as divers communicants are not able 
to kneel during the time of the communion for age, sickness, 
and sundry other infirmities ; and some also superstitiously 
both kneel and knock [ that order of kneeling to be left to the 
discretion of the ordinary within his jurisdiction. 

V. That it be sufficient for the minister, in time of saying 
divine service, and ministering the sacraments, to use a sur- 
plice; and that no minister say service or minister the sacra- 
ments, but in a comely garment or habit. 

VI. That the use of organs be removed. 

{Annals, Stry^e, Oxford, 1824, I, p. 502.) 

138. Privileges of Parliament 

(1562) 

D^ Ewes'' Jmirnals 

The privileges of the modern Parliament may be classed under 
seven heads: (i) Freedom of members from arrest and mo- 
lestation; (2) freedom of speech and debate; (3) secrecy of 
debate; (4) privilege of access to the sovereign; (5) favourable 
construction by the sovereign of all actions of Parliament; (6) 
right of deciding contested elections; (7) right of each House 
to settle the order of its business. Various parliamentary rights 
belong to each House. It is the custom for the Speaker of the 
House of Commons to make the demand for the recognition of 
privilege at the meeting of each Parliament. The present privi- 
leges are the result of continued effort against the royal assump- 
tions. The original privileges were far less extensive, including 
only the four privileges first enumerated in the following ex- 
tract from the speech of Speaker Williams at the opening of 
Parliament of 1562. 

. . . Further,- I am to be a suitor to your Majesty, that 
when matters of importance shall arise whereupon it shall 
be necessary to have your Highness' opinion, that then I 
may have free access unto you for the same; and the like to 
the Lords of the Upper House. 

Secondly, that in repairing from the Nether House to your 
Majesty or the Lords of the Upper House, to declare their 
meanings, and I mistaking or uttering the same contrary to 
their meaning, that then my fault or imbecility in declaring 
thereof be not prejudicial to the House, but that I may again 
repair to them, the better to understand their meanings, and 
so they to reform the same. 



ELIZABETH 



307 



Thirdly, that the assembly of the Lower House may have 
frank and free liberties to speak their minds without any 
controlment, blame, grudge, menaces or displeasure, accord- 
ing to the old ancient order. 

Finally, that the old privilege of the House be observed, 
which is that they and theirs might be at liberty, frank and 
free, without arrest, molestation, trouble or other damage to 
their bodies, lands, goods or servants, with all other their 
liberties, during the time of the said parliament; whereby 
they may the better attend and do their duty; all which 
privileges I desire may be enrolled, as at other times it hath 

been accustomed . . . (D' Ewes' journals, Lond. 1682, p. 65.) 

139. Elizabeth and Mary Stuart 

D'' Ewes'' Journals 

No Student of history can pass lightly over the pages which 
deal with Mary, Queen of Scots. This romantic figure in an age 
of romance is a character enigma not yet solved. The attitude 
of Elizabeth and Parliament toward Mary, when a prisoner in 
their hands, is well shown by the accompanying extract. 

May it please your most excellent Majesty, We, your 
humble, loving and faithful subjects, the Lords and Com- 
mons in this present parliament assembled, having of long 
time, to our intolerable grief, seen by how manifold, most 
dangerous and execrable practices, Mary . . . commonly called 
the Queen of Scots, hath compassed the destruction of your 
Majesty's sacred and most royal person, in whose safety 
(next under God) our chief and only felicity doth lie, and 
thereby not only to bereave us of the sincere and true religion 
of Almighty God, bringing us and this noble crown back 
again into the thraldom of the Romish tyranny, but also 
utterly to ruinate and overthrow the happy state and com- 
monweal of this most noble realm : . . . and seeing also what 
insolent boldness is grown in the heart of the same Queen, 
through your Majesty's former exceeding favours and clem- 
encies towards her; and thereupon weighing, with heavy 
and sorrowful hearts, in what continual peril of such- 
like desperate conspiracies and practices your Majesty's 
most royal and sacred person and life (more dear unto 
us than our own) is and shall be still, without any pos- 
sible means to prevent it, so long as the said Scottish Queen 
shall be suffered to continue, and shall not receive that 
due punishment which, by justice and the laws of this your 
realm, she hath so often and so many ways, for her most 



3o8 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

wicked and detestable offences, deserved : therefore . . . We 
do most humbly beseech your most excellent Majesty that, 
as well in respect of the continuance of the true religion 
now professed amongst us and of the safety of your most 
royal person and estate, as in regard of the preservation 
and defence of us your most loving, dutiful and faithful 
subjects and the whole commonweal of this realm, it may 
please your Highness to take speedy order, that declaration 
of the same sentence and judgment be made and published 
by proclamation, and that thereupon direction be given for 
further proceedings against the said Scottish Queen, accord- 
ing to the effect and true meaning of the said statute [Stat. 
27 Eliz. I. § i] : because, upon advised and great consultation, 
we cannot find that there is any possible means to provide 
for your Majesty's safety, but by the just and speedy execu- 
tion of the said Queen : . . . and if the same be not put in 
present execution, we your most loving and dutiful subjects, 
shall thereby (so far as man's reason can reach) be brought 
into utter despair of the continuance amongst us of the true 
religion of Almighty God, and of your Majesty's life, and the 
safety of all your faithful subjects, and the good estate of 
this most flourishing commonweal. 

The Queen answered, 24 November, 1586: 

That her Highness, moved with some commiseration for 

the Scottish Queen, in respect of her former dignity and 

great fortunes in her younger years, her nearness of kindred 

to her Majesty and also of her sex, could be well pleased to 

forbear the taking of her blood, if, by any other means to be 

devised by her Highness' Great Council of this realm, the 

safety of her Majesty's person and governm.ent might be 

preserved, without danger of ruin and destruction, and else 

not; therein leaving them all nevertheless to their own free 

liberty and dispositions of proceeding otherwise at their 

choice. 

To which the Houses made reply : 

That having often conferred and debated on that ques- 
tion, according to her Highness' commandment, they could 
find no other way than was set down in their petition. 

The Queen's second answer. 

If I should say unto you that I mean not to grant your 
petition, by my faith I should say imto you more than per- 



ELIZABETH 309 

haps I mean. And if I should say unto you I mean to grant 
your petition, I should then tell you more than is fit for 
you to know. And thus I must deliver you an answer answer- 

^^^^- {D' Ewes' Journals, Rev, Ed. Lond., 1628 pp. 380-402.) 

140. Defeat of the Spanish Armada 

Somers' Tracts 

The Great Armada has given a theme to innumerable writers. 
Of these Sir Robert Carey, Earl of Monmouth, best among con- 
temporaries, condenses in a succinct yet vivid form the story of 
the futile attempt to conquer England. 

Carey's account of the armada 

The next year (1588) the King of Spain's great Armado 
came upon our coast, thinking to devour us all. Upon the 
news sent to court from Plymouth of their certain arrival, 
my Lord Cumberland and myself took post horse, and rode 
straight to Portsmouth, where we found a frigate that car- 
ried us to sea ; and having sought for the fleets a whole day, 
the night after we fell amongst them ; where it was our 
fortune to light first on the Spanish fleet ; and finding our- 
selves in the wrong, we tacked about, and in some short time 
got to our own fleet, which was not far from the other. At 
our coming aboard our admiral, we stayed there awhile; but 
finding the ship much pestered, and scant of cabins, we left 
the admiral, and went aboard Captain Reyman, where we 
stayed, and were very welcome, and much made of. It was 
on Thursday that we came to the fleet. All that day we 
followed close the Spanish Armado, and nothing was at- 
tempted on either side ; the same course we held all Friday 
and Saturday, by which time the Spanish fleet cast anchor 
just before Calais. We likewise did the same, a very small 
distance behind them, and so continued till Monday morning 
about two of the clock ; in which time our council of war 
had provided six old hulks, and stuffed them full of all com- 
bustible matter fit for burning, and on Monday, at two in the 
morning, they were let loose, with each of them a man in 
her to direct them. The tide serving, they brought them 
very near the Spanish fleet, so that they could not miss to 
come amongst the midst of them : then they set fire to them, 
and came off themselves, having each of them a little boat 
to bring him off. The ships set on fire came so directly to 
the Spanish fleet, as they had no way to avoid them, but to 
cut all their halsers, and so escape ; and their haste was such, 



310 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

that they left one of their four great galeasses on ground 
before Calais, which our men took, and had the spoil of, 
where many of the Spaniards were slain with the governor 
thereof, but most of them were saved with wading ashore 
to Calais. They being in this disorder, we made ready to 
follow them, where began a cruel fight, and we had such ad- 
vantage both of wind and tide, as we had a glorious day of 
them; continuing fight from four o'clock in the morning till 
almost five or six at night, where they lost a dozen or four- 
teen of their best ships, some sunk, and the rest run ashore 
in divers parts to keep themselves from sinking. After God 
had given us this great victory, they made all the haste they 
could away, and we followed them Tuesday and Wednesday, 
by which time they were gotten as far as Flamborough- 
head. It was resolved on Wednesday at night, that, by four 
o'clock on Thursday, we should have a new fight with them 
for a farewell ; but by two in the morning, there was a flag 
of council hung out in our vice-admiral, when it was found 
that in the whole fleet there was not municion sufficient to 
make half a fight; and therefore, it was there concluded, 
that we should let them pass, and our fleet to return to the 
downs. That night we departed with them, we had a mighty 
storm. Our fleet was cast anchor, and endured it; but the 
Spanish fleet, wanting their anchors, were many of them 
cast ashore on the west of Ireland, where they had all their 
throats cut by the kernes; and some of them on Scotland, 
where they were no better used; and the rest, with much 
ado, got into Spain again. Thus did God bless us, and gave 
victory over this invincible navy ; the sea calmed, and all our 
ships came to the Downs on Friday in safety. 

(Somers' Collection of Tracts, ed. cit., I, 445.) 

141. The Armada Speech of Elizabeth 

Seiners'' Tracts 

The following speech of Elizabeth to Parliament is full of 
interest, not only for its subject matter, but also for the clear 
light which it throws upon the character of the queen. Her 
firmness, her finesse, her duplicity, and above all, her ability to 
manage men, can be read by the student of history in the public 
utterances of the great queen. 

A SPEECH MADE BY QUEEN ELIZABETH (OF FAMOUS MEMORY) 
IN PARLIAMENT, ANNO 1593 : ^ND IN THE THIRTY-FIFTH 
YEAR OF HER REIGN_, CONCERNING THE SPANISH INVASION. 

My Lords and Gentlemen, 

This kingdom hath had many wise, noble, and victorious 



ELIZABETH 311 

princes; I will not compare with any of them in wisdom, 
fortitude, or any other virtues; but saving the duty of a 
child, that is not to compare with his father in love, care, 
sincerity, and justice, I will compare with any prince that 
ever you had, or shall have. 

It may be thought simplicity in me, that, all this time of 
my reign, I have not sought to advance my territories, and 
enlarge my dominions; for opportunity hath served me to 
do it. I acknowledge my womanhood and weakness in that 
respect ; but though it hath not been hard to obtain, yet I 
doubted how to keep the things so obtained; and I must say, 
my mind was never to invade my neighbours, or to usurp 
over any; I am contented to reign over my own, and to rule 
as a just princess. 

Yet the king of Spain doth challenge me to be the quar- 
reller, and the beginner of all these wars; in which he doth 
me the greatest wrong that can be, for my conscience doth 
not accuse my thoughts, wherein I have done him the least 
injury; but I am persuaded in my conscience, if he knew 
what I know, he himself would be sorry for the wrong, that 
he hath done me. 

I fear not all his threatenings ; his great preparations and 
mighty forces do not stir me ; for though he come against 
me with a greater power than ever was his invincible navy, 
I doubt not (God assisting me, upon whom I always trust) 
but that I shall be able to defeat and overthrow him. I have 
great advantage against him, for my cause is just. 

I heard say, when he attempted his last invasion, some 
upon the sea-coast forsook their towns, and flew up higher 
into the country, and left all naked and exposed to his en- 
trance : but, I swear unto you, if I knew those persons, or any 
that should do so hereafter, I will make them know and feel 
what it is to be so fearful in so urgent a cause. 

The subsidies you give me, I accept thankfully, if you give 
me your good wills with them; but if the necessity of the 
time, and your preservations, did not require it, I would 
refuse them; but let me tell you that the sum is not so 
much, but that it is needful for a princess to have so much 
always lying in her coffers for your defence in time of need, 
and not to be driven to get it, when we should use it. 

You that be lieutenants and gentlemen of command in 
your countries, I require you to take care that the people be 
well armed, and in readiness upon all occasions. You that 
be judges and justices of the peace, I command and straightly 



31^ SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

charge you, that you see the laws to be duly executed, and 
that you make them living laws, when we have put life into 
them. 

(Somers' Collection of Historical Tracts, ed. cit., I, 463.) 

142. Execution of Margaret Clitherow 

John Mush 

John Mush, who gives the following account, was an Eng- 
lish secular priest, who was ordained in Rome and then came 
to the English mission. He was several times imprisoned, and 
once sentenced to death, for his fearless defence of his faith, yet 
he finally died peacefully at an extreme old age. Margaret 
Clitherow was executed on the charge of treason in concealing 
attainted priests, although in the account of her death it is 
strongly intimated that she was martyred because she would not 
recant her faith. 

The martyr coming to the place, kneeled her down, and 
prayed to herself. The tormentors bade her pray with them, 
and they would pray with her. The martyr denied, and said, 
'T will not pray with you, and you shall not pray with me ; 
neither will I say Amen to your prayers, nor shall you to 
mine." Then they willed her to pray for the Queen's ma- 
jesty. The martyr began in this order. First, in the hear- 
ing of them all, she prayed for the Catholic Church, then for 
the Pope's Holiness, Cardinds, and other Fathers which have 
charge of souls, and then for all Christian princes. At which 
words the tormentors interrupted her, and willed her not to 
put her majesty among that company, yet the martyr pro- 
ceeded in this order, "and especially for Elizabeth, Queen 
of England, that God turn her to the Catholic faith, and that 
after this mortal life she may receive the blessed joys of 
heaven. For I wish as much good," quoth she, "to her ma- 
jesty's soul as to mine own." Sheriff Gibson, abhorring 
the cruel fact, stood weeping at the door. Then said Faw- 
cet, "Mrs. Clitherow, you must remember and confess that 
you die for treason." The martyr answered, "No, no, Mr. 
Sheriff, I die for the love of my Lord Jesu"; which last 
words she spake with a loud voice . . . 

The women took off her clothes, and put upon her the 
long habit of linen. Then very quietly she laid her down 
upon the ground, her face covered with a handkerchief, the 
linen habit being placed over her as far as it would reach, 
all the rest of her body being naked. The door was laid 
upon her, her hands she joined towards her face. Then the 
sheriff said, "Nay, you must have your hands bound." The 



ELIZABETH 313 

martyr put forth her hands over the door still joined. Then 
two sergeants parted them, and with the inkle strings, which 
she had prepared for that purpose bound them to two posts, 
so that her body and her arms made a perfect cross. They 
willed her again to ask the Queen's Majesty's forgiveness, 
and to pray for her. The martyr said she had prayed for 
her. They also willed her to asked her husband's forgive- 
ness. The martyr said, "If ever I have offended him, but 
for my conscience, I ask him forgiveness." 

After this they laid weight upon her, which w^hen she 
first felt, she said, "Jesu ! Jesu ! Jesu ! have mercy upon 
me !" which were the last words she was heard to speak. 

She was in dying one quarter of an hour. A sharp stone, 
as much as a man's fist, put under her back; upon her was 
laid to the quantity of seven or eight hundred-weight at the 
least, which, breaking her ribs, caused them to burst forth of 
the skin. 

Thus most victoriously this gracious martyr overcame 
all her enemies, passing [from] this mortal life with marvel- 
lous triumph into the peaceable city of God, there to receive 
a worthy crown of endless immortality and joy. 

This was at nine of the clock, and she continued in the 
press until three at afternoon. Her hat before she died she 
sent to her husband, in sign of her loving duty to him as to 
her head. Her hose and shoes to her eldest daughter, Anne, 
about twelve years old, signifying that she should serve God 
and follow her steps of virtue. 

{The Troubles of O^tr Catholic Forefathers Related by Themselves, p. 430 et seq. 
Mr. John Mush's Life of Margaret Clitherow, London, 1877.) 



143. Death of Elizabeth 

Somers^ Tracts 

The death of Queen Elizabeth closed the Tudor dynasty, the 
most brilliant completed period of English history. The ac- 
count given is of especial interest for the portion concerning the 
act of the dying sovereign in relation to the succession to the 
throne. Other contemporary writers deny the intention of 
Elizabeth to appoint James of Scotland as her successor; and 
even if the account selected is true, the claim that James was 
absolutely named by Elizabeth as her heir was evidently largely 
founded on imagination and desire. 



314 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 



THE DEATH OF QUEEN ELIZABETH, WITH HER DECLARATION 
OF HER SUCCESSOR. MSS. 

About the Friday sevenight after Christmas last, being 
about the 14th of January, 1602, in the 45th year of her 
reign, the late queen about two days before sickened of a 
colde, (being ever forewarned by Doctor Dee, to beware of 
White-hall,) and the said 14th da}'- removed to Richniond; 
but a little before her going, even the same morning, the 
Earle of Nottingham, high admiral of England, coming to 
her, partly to speak with her as concerning her removall, and 
partly touching other matters, wherein her pleasure and 
direction was to be knowne, they fell into some speech of the 
succession; and then she told him that her seate had been 
ever the throne of kings, and none but her next heir of 
blood and descent should succeed her. After falling into 
other matters, they left that speech, and she departed to 
Richmond; where she was well amended of the cold. But 
on Monday the 20th of February, she begann to sicken 
againe, and so continued till Monday the 7th of March, at 
which time notice was given to the lords of the councell, 
that she was sick of a cold, and so she continued sick till 
Tuesday the 15th of March following; after which day she 
began somewhat to amend. But the i8th of March follow- 
ing being Friday, she began to be very ill, whereupon the 
lords of the councell were sent for to Richmond, and there 
continued till Wednesday the 24th of March, about three of 
the clock in the morning (being our Lady even) at which 
time she died; but on Tuesday before her death, being the 
23d of March, the lord admirall being on the right side of the 
bed, the lord keeper at the left, and Mr. Secretary Cecill 
(after Earle of Salisbury) at the beds feete; all standing. 

The lord admirall put her in mind of her speech, con- 
cerning the succession, had at White-hall; and that they, in 
the name of all the rest of her councell, came unto her to 
knowe her pleasure who should succeede. Whereunto she 
thus replyed : *T told you my seat had been the seat of kings, 
and I will have no rascall to succeed me, and who should 
succeed me, but a king?" 

The lords not understanding this darke speech, and look- 
ing the one on the other, at length Mr. Secretary boldly 
asked her, what she meant by these words, "That no rascall 
should succeed her ?" whereunto she replyed, "That her mean- 



1 



ELIZABETH 315 

ing was, that a king should succeed her, and who," quoth she. 
"should that be, but our cozen of Scotland." 

They asked her whether that were her absolute resolution ? 
whereunto she answered, "I pray you trouble me no more, 
I'll have none but him" ; with which answer they departed. 

Notwithstanding, after again, about four a clock in the 
afternoon, the next day, being Wednesday, (after the arch- 
bishopp of Canterbury and other divines had been w^ith her, 
and left her in a manner speechlesse), the three lords afore- 
said repaired unto her againe, asking her if she remained 
in her former resolution, and who should succeed her : but 
she not being able to speak, was asked by Mr. Secretary in 
this sort, wee beseech your majesty if you remain in your 
former resolution, and that you would have the King of 
Scots to succeed you in your kingdom, shewe some sign unto 
us ; whereat suddenly heaveing herself upwards in the bed, 
and putting her arms out of bed, she held both her hands 
jointly together over her head in manner of a crown, where- 
by as they guessed she signified, that she did not only wish 
him the kingdome, but desired the continuance of his estate, 
after which they departed. 

And the next morning (as is aforesaid) she dyed. Im- 
mediately after her death, all the lords, as well of the councell 
as other noblemen that were at the courte, came from Rich- 
mond to White-hall by six o'clock in the morning, where other 
noblemen that were at London met them; but as they began 
to sitt in councell in the privy chamber at White-hall, the 
lord keeper, (Sir Thomas Egerton,) and the rest of the coun- 
cell that were no barons, offered to sitt at the lower end of 
the councell table, and not above any of the meanest nobility : 
but the noblemen, in respect of their former authority, called 
them to the higher end of the table, and wished them to 
keepe their places ; whereunto the lord keeper answered, viz. 
If it be your lordshipps pleasure, wee will do so, but that is 
more of your courtesies then we can demand of duty ; and 
so they sat downe, every man according to his degree in 
councell ; touching the succession, where after some speech 
had of divers competitors and matters of state, at length the 
lord admirall rehearsed all the aforesaid premises, which the 
late queen had spoken to him, and to the lord keeper, and 
Mr. Secretary, with the manner thereof; which they being 
asked, did affirme to be true upon their honours. 

(Somers' Collectio?t of Historical Tracts, ed cit., I, 246.) 



CHAPTER XIX 

ELIZABETHAN SEAMEN 



144. Hawkins' Third Voyage 

Hakluyi 

The activities of the Elizabethan seamen who bore the banner 
of England north, south, and west, and defied the power of 
Spain, the then lord of the New World, found their historian 
in Richard Hakluyt (circa 1553-1616). The greatest of his 
works is The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques, and 
Discoveries of the English Nation (London, 1598-1600). "It is 
an invaluable treasure of material for the history of geographical 
discovery and colonization." Various editions are accessible. I 
have selected four accounts of voyages, each typical of the enter- 
prise of the sea-rovers, who traversed many oceans in quest of 
slaves, treasure, discovery of a passage to Cathay, or spots on 
which to found colonies. The first of these voyages is that of 
Sir John Hawkins, told by that seaman himself. John Hawkins 
(circa 1532- 1595) was Vice- Admiral in the time of the Armada, 
and before that day had been untiring in voyages of exploration. 
These were often extremely lucrative, as he secured large cargoes 
of slaves. His third voyage, of which the following is the ac- 
count, is illustrative of one of the expeditions made for the latter 
purpose. In this traffic he did not stand alone among his con- 
temporaries. 

The Third troublesome Voyage made w^ith the Jesus of 
Lubeck, the Minion, and four other ships, to the parts of 
Guinea and the West Indies, in the years 1567 and 1568, by 
Master John Hawkins. 

The ships departed from Plymouth, the 2nd day of Oc- 
tober, Anno 1567, and had reasonable w^eather until the 
seventh day. At which time, forty leagues north from Cape 
Finisterre, there arose an extreme storm, which continued 
four days, in such sort, that the fleet was dispersed, and all 
our great boats lost; and the Jesus, our chief ship, in such 
case as not thought able to serve the voyage. Whereupon in 
the same storm we set our course homeward, determining to 
give over the voyage. But the eleventh day of the same 
month, the wind changed with fair weather, whereby we 

316 



ELIZABETHAN SEAMEN 317 

were animated to follow our enterprise, and so did, directing 
our course with the islands of the Canaries, where, accord- 
ing to an order before prescribed, all our ships before dis- 
persed, met at one of those islands, called Gomera, where we 
took water, and departed from thence on the 4th day of No- 
vember, towards the coast of Guinea, and arrived at Cape 
Verde, on the i8th day of November: where we landed 150 
men, hoping to obtain some negroes, where we got but few, 
and those with great hurt and damage to our men, which 
chiefly proceeded of their envenomed arrows. And although 
in the beginning they seemed to be but small hurts, yet there 
hardly escaped any that had blood drawn of them, but died in 
strange sort, with their mouths shut some ten days before they 
died, and after their wounds were whole ; where I myself had 
one of the greatest wounds, yet, thanks be to God, escaped. 
From thence we passed the tim.e upon the coast of Guinea, 
searching with all diligence the rivers from Rio Grande 
unto Sierra Leone, till the 12th of January, in which time 
we had not gotten together a hundred and fifty negroes. 
Yet notwithstanding, the sickness of our men and the late 
time of the year commanded us away : and thus having noth- 
ing wherewith to seek the coast of the West Indies, I was 
with the rest of our company in consultation to go to the 
cost of the Mine, hoping there to have obtained some gold 
for our wares, and thereby to have defrayed our charge. 
But even in that present instant, there came to us a negro, 
sent from a king, oppressed by other kings his neighbours, 
desiring our aid, with promise that as many negroes as by 
these wars might be obtained, as well of his part as of ours, 
should be at our pleasure. Whereupon we concluded to give 
aid, and sent 120 of our men, which on the 15th of January 
assaulted a town of the negroes of our allies' adversaries, 
which had in it 8,000 inhabitants, being very strongely im- 
paled and fenced after their manner. But it was so well de- 
fended, that our men prevailed not, but lost six men and forty 
hurt: so that our men sent forthwith to me for more help. 
Whereupon, considering that the good success of this en- 
terprise might highly further the commodity of our voyage, 
I went myself, and with the help of the king of our side, as- 
saulted the town, both by land and by sea and very hardly 
with fire (their houses being covered with dry palm leaves) 
obtained the town and put the inhabitants to flight, where 
we took 250 persons, men, women, and children, and by our 
friend the king of our side, there were taken 600 prisoners. 



3i8 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

whereof we hoped to have had our choice. But the negro 
(in which nation is seldom or never found truth) meant 
nothing less : for that night he removed his camp and prison- 
ers, so that we were fain to content us with those few which 
we had gotten ourselves. 

Now had we obtained between four and five hundred 
negroes, wherewith we thought it somewhat reasonable to 
seek the coast of the West Indies ; and there, for our negroes, 
and other our merchandise, we hoped to obtain whereof to 
countervail our charges with some grains. Whereunto we 
proceeded with all diligence, furnished our watering, took 
fuel, and departed the cost of Guinea on the 3d of February, 
continuing at the sea with a passage more hard than before 
hast been accustomed till the 27th day of March, which day 
we had sight of an island, called Dominica, upon the coast of 
the West Indies, in fourteen degrees. From thence we coasted 
from place to place, making our traffic with the Spaniards 
as we might, somewhat hardly, because the king had straitly 
commanded all his governors in those parts by no means to 
suffer any trade to be made with us. Notwithstanding, we 
had reasonable trade, and courteous entertainment, from the 
Isle of Margarita unto Cartagena, without anything greatly 
worth the noting, saving at Capo de la Vela, in a town called 
Rio de la Hacha, from whence come all the pearls. The 
treasurer, who had the charge there, would by no means 
agree to any trade, or suffer us to take water. He had forti- 
fied his town with divers bulwarks in all places where it 
might be entered, and furnished himself with a hundred 
arquebusiers, so that he thought by famine to have inforced 
us to have put on land our negroes. Of which purpose he 
had not greatly failed, unless we had by force entered the 
town; which (after we could by no means obtain his favour) 
we were enforced to do, and so with two hundred men brake 
in upon their bulwarks, and entered the town with the loss 
only of two men of our part, and no hurt done to the Span- 
iards, because after their volley of shot discharged, they all 
fled. Thus having the town with some circumstance, as 
partly by the Spaniards' desire of negroes, and partly by 
friendship of the treasurer, we obtained a secret trade: 
whereupon the Spaniards resorted to us by night, and bought 
of us to the number of 200 negroes. In all other places 
where we traded the Spanish inhabitants were glad of us 
and traded willingly. 

.-^ (Hakluyt, as. ed. by J. A. Payne in Voyages of the Elizabeikan Seamen 

Lond. 1880. p. 52.) 



ELIZABETHAN SEAMEN 319 

145. Drake's famous Voyage 

Hakluyt 

Sir Francis Drake {circa 1 545-1 595) began his naval career as 
a chaplain and died an admiral. His greatest voyage was that 
around the world, begun in 1577. This was made in the ship 
The Golden Hind, which Elizabeth ordered to be forever pre- 
served as a monument of the glory of the navigators and the 
country. Drake's circumnavigation of the world was but one 
of many successful voyages. In these days, when piracy and 
robbery are not the necessary accompaniments of exploration, 
his exploits appear well-nigh incredible. Yet there is good 
evidence of the truth of the tales of towns sacked, galleons 
plundered, and treasures of silver, gold, and jewels secured. 
Above all seamen of his time, Drake bearded the Spanish power 
and tore from it the mastery of the seas. The voyage given is 
from the pen of one who himself sailed with Drake. It well 
illustrates the progress of the second great incentive to English 
exploration in the sixteenth century, the plunder of the Spaniard. 

NARRATIVE OF FRANCIS PRETTY 

The Famous Voyage of Sir Francis Drake, into the South 
Sea, and therehence about the whole globe of the earth, begun 
in the year of our Lord, 1577. 

On the 15th day of November, in the year of our Lord 
1577, Mr. Francis Drake, v^ith a fleet of five ships and 
barques, and to the number of 164 men, gentlemen and 
sailors, departed from Plymouth. . . . 

On the 17th of August we Departed the port of St. Julian, 
and on the 20th we fell in with the Straits of Magellan, going 
into the South Sea, at the cape or headland whereof we 
found the body of a dead man, whose flesh was clean con- 
sumed. On the 2 1 St day we entered the Straits . . . We con- 
tinuing our course, fell the 29th of November with an island 
called La Mocha. . .the next day repairing again to the shore, 
and sending two men to land with barrels to fill water, the 
people taking them for Spaniards (to whom they use to 
show no favor if they take them) laid violent hands on them, 
and, as we think, slew them. 

Our General seeing this, stayed here no longer, but 
weighed anchor, and set sail towards the coast of Chili, and 
drawing towards it, we met near to the shore an Indian in a 
Canoe, who thinking us to have been Spaniards, came to us 
and told us, that at a place called Santiago, there was a great 
Spanish ship laden from the kingdom of Peru, for which 
good news our General gave him divers trifles. Whereof he 



320 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

was glad, and went along with us and brought us to the place, 
which is called the port of Valparaiso. When we came 
thither we found, indeed, the ship riding at anchor, having 
in her eight Spaniards and three negroes, who, thinking us 
to have been Spaniards, and their friends, welcomed us with 
a drum, and made ready a Bottija of wine of Chili to drink 
to us. But as soon as we were entered, one of our company 
called Thomas Moon began to lay about him, and struck one 
of the Spaniards, and said unto him, "Abaxo perro !" that is 
in English, "Go down, dog!" One of these Spaniards, see- 
ing persons of that quality in these seas, all to crossed and 
blessed himself. But, to be short, we stowed them under 
hatches, all save one Spaniard, who suddenly and desperately 
leapt over-board into the sea, and swam ashore to the town 
of Santiago, to give them warning of our arrival. 

They of the town being not above nine households, pres- 
ently fled away and abandoned the town. Our General 
manned his boat and the Spanish ship's boat and went to the 
town, and being come to it, we rifled it, and came to a small 
chapel, which we entered, and found therein a silver chalic, 
two cruets, and one altar-cloth, the spoil whereof our Gen- 
eral gave to Mr. Fletcher, his minister. We found, also in 
this town a warehouse stored with wine of Chili and many 
boards of cedar-wood, all which wine we brought away with 
us, and certain of the boards to burn for firewood. And so, 
being come aboard, we departed the haven, having first set 
all the Spaniards on land, saving one John Griego, a Greek 
born, whom our General carried with him as pilot to bring 
him into the haven of Lima. 

When we were at sea our General rifled the ship, and 
found in her good store of the wine of Chili, and 25,000 
pesos of very pure and fine gold of Valdivia, amounting in 
value to 37,000 ducats of Spanish money, and above. So, 
going on our course, we arrived next at a place called Co- 
quimbo, where our General sent fourteen of his men on land 
to fetch water. But they were espied by the Spanish, who 
came with 300 horsemen and 200 footmen, and slew one of 
our men with a piece. The rest came aboard in safety, and 
the Spaniards departed. We went on shore again and buried 
our man, and the Spaniards came down again with a flag 
of truce; but we set sail, and would not trust them. From 
hence we went to a certain port called Tarapaca, where, 
being landed, we found by the sea a Spaniard lying asleep, 
who had lying by him thirteen bars of silver, which weighed 



ELIZABETHAN SEAMEN 321 

about 4,000 ducats Spanish. We took the silver and left the 
man. Not far from hence, going on land for fresh water, 
we met with a Spaniard and an Indian boy driving eight 
llamas or sheep of Peru, which are as big as asses ; everyone 
of which sheep had on his back two bags of leather, each 
bag containing 50 lbs. weight of fine silver. So that, bring- 
ing both the sheep and their burthen to the ship, we found in 
all the bags 800 weights of silver. 

Herehence we sailed to a place called Arica, and, being 
entered the haven, we found there three small barques, which 
we rifled, and found in one of them fifty-seven wedges of 
silver, each of them weighing about 20 lbs. weight, and every 
of these wedges were of the fashion and bigness of a brick- 
bat. In all these three barques we found not one person. 
For they, mistrusting no strangers, were all gone on land to 
the town, which consisteth of about twenty houses, which 
we would have ransacked if our company had been better and 
more in number. But our General, contented with the spoil 
of the ships, left the town and put off again to sea, and set 
sail for Lima, and, by the way, met with a small barque, 
which he boarded, and found in her good store of linen 
cloth. Whereof taking some quantity, he let her go. 

To Lima we came on the 13th of February, and, being 
entered the haven, we found there about twelve sail of ships 
lying fast moored at anchor, having all their sails carried on 
shore; for the masters and merchants were here most secure, 
having never been assaulted by enemies, and at this time 
feared the approach of none such as we were. Our General 
rifled these ships, and found in one of them a chest full of 
reals of plate, and good store of silks and linen cloth, and 
took the chest into his own ship, and good store of silks and 
linen. In which ship he had news of another ship called the 
Cacafuego, which was gone towards Payta, and that the 
same ship was laden with treasure. Whereupon we stayed 
no longer here, but, cuting all the cables of the ships in the 
haven, we let them drive whither they would, either to sea 
or to the shore, and with all speed we followed the Cacafuego 
toward Payta, thinking there to have found her; but before 
we arrived there she was gone from thence towards Panama, 
whom our General still pursued, and by the way met with a 
barque laden with ropes and tackle for ships, which he 
boarded and searched, and found in her 80 lbs. weight of gold, 
and a crucifix of gold with goodly great emeralds set in it, 
which he took, and some of the cordage also for his own ship. 



J-- 



SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 



From hence we departed, still following the Cacafnego; 
and our General promised Our company that whosoever 
should first descry her should have h s chain of gold for his 
good news. It fortuned that John Drake, going up into the 
top, descried her at about three o'clock, and at about six 
o'clock we came to her and boarded her, and shot at her 
three pieces of ordnance, and struck down her mizen, and, 
being entered, we found in her great riches, as jewels and 
precious stones, thirteen chests full of reals of plate, four- 
score pounds weight of gold, and six-and-twenty tons of 
silver. The place where we took this prize was called Cape 
de San Francisco, about 150 leagues from Panama. The 
pilot's name of this ship was Francisco, and amongst other 
plate that our General found in this ship he found two very 
fair gilt bowls of silver, which were the pilot's, to whom our 
General said, "Senor Pilot, you have here two silver cups ; 
but I must needs have one of them," which the pilot, because 
he could not otherwise choose, yielded unto, and gave the 
other to the steward of our General's ships. When this pilot 
departed from us, his boy said thus unto our General, "Cap- 
tain, our ship shall be called no more the Cacafuego, but the 
Cacaplata, and your ship shall be called the Cacafuego," 
which pretty speech of the pilot's boy ministered matter of 
laughter to us, both then and long after. When our General 
had done what he would with this Cacafuego, he cast her 
off, and we went on our course still towards the west, and 
not long after met with a ship laden with linen cloth and 
fine China dishes of white earth, and great store of China 
silks, of all which things we took as we listed. The owner 
himself of this ship was in her, who was a Spanish gentle- 
man, from whom our General took a faulcon of gold, with 
a great emerald in the breast thereof; and the pilot of the 
ship he took also with him, and so cast the ship off. 

This pilot brought us to the haven of Aguatulco, the town 
whereof, as he told us, had but seventeen Spaniards in it. 
As soon as we were entered this haven, we landed, and went 
presently to the town and to the Town-house, where we 
found a judge sitting in judgment, being associated with 
three other officers, upon three negroes that had conspired 
the burning of the town. Both which judges and prisoners 
we took, and brought them a-shipboard, and caused the chief 
judge to write his letter to the town to command all the 
townsmen to avoid, that we might safely water there, which 
being done, and they departed, we ransacked the town, and 



ELIZABETHAN SEAMEN 323 

in one house we found a pot, of the quantity of a bushel, full 
of reals of plate, which we brought to our ship. And here 
one Thomas Moon, one of our company, took a Spanish 
gentlemen as he was flying out of the town, and, searching 
him, he found a chain of gold about him, and other jewels, 
which he took, and so let him go. At this place our General, 
among other Spaniards, set ashore his Portuguese pilot 
which he took at the Islands of Cape Verde out of a ship of 
St. Mary Port, of Portugal ; and having set them ashore we 
departed hence, and sailed to the Island of Canno, where our 
General landed, and brought to shore his own ship, and dis- 
charged her, mended and graved her, and furnished our ship 
with water and food sufficiently. . . . 

On the 5th of June, being in forty-three degrees towards 
the Arctic Pole, we found the air so cold, that our men being 
grievously pinched with the same, complained of the ex- 
tremity thereof, and the further we went, the more the cold 
increased upon us. Whereupon we thought it best for that 
time to seek the land, and did so, finding it not mountainous, 
but low plain land, till we came within thirty-eight degrees 
towards the line. In which height it pleased God to send us 
into a fair and good bay, with a good wind to enter the same. 
In this bay we anchored, and the people of the country having 
their houses close by the waterside, shewed themselves unto 
us, and sent a present to our General. When they came unto 
us, they greatly wondered at the things that we brought, but 
our General (according to his natural and accustomed hu- 
manity) courteously entreated them, and liberally bestowed 
on them necessary things to cover their nakedness, where- 
upon they supposed us to be gods, and would not be pur- 
suaded to the contrary : the presents which they sent to our 
General, were feathers, and cauls of net-work. Their houses 
were digged round about with earth, and have from the utter- 
most brims of the circle, clifts of wood set upon them, joined 
close together at the top like a spire steeple, which by reason 
of that closeness are very warm. Their bed is the ground 
with rushes strewed on it, and lying about the house, they 
have the fire in the midst. The men go naked, the women 
take bulrushes, and comb them after the manner of hemp, 
and thereof make their loose garments, which being knit 
about their middles, hang down about their hips, having also 
about their shoulders a skin of deer, with the hair upon it. 
These women are very obedient and serviceable to their 
husbands, , . . 



324 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

Our General called this country New Albion, and that for 
two causes, the one in respect of the white banks and cliffs, 
which lie towards the sea, and the other, because it might 
have some affinity with our country in name, which some- 
times was so called. There is no part of earth here to be 
taken up, wherein there is not probable show of gold or 
silver. ... 

When we had ended our business here we w^eighed, and 
set sail to run for the Moluccas; but having at that time a 
bad wind, and being amongst the islands, with much diffi- 
culty we recovered to the northward of the island of Celebes, 
where by reason of contrary winds, not able to continue our 
course to run westwards, we were enforced to alter the same 
to the southward again, finding that course also to be very 
hard and dangerous for us, by reason of infinite shoals which 
lie off and among the islands; whereof we had too much 
trial to the hazard and danger to our ship and lives. For, 
of all other days, upon the 9th of January, in the year 1580, 
we ran suddenly upon a rock, where w^e stuck fast from 
eight o'clock at night till four o'clock in the afternoon the 
next day, being indeed out of all hope to escape the danger; 
but our General as he had always hitherto shewed himself 
courageous, and of a good confidence in the mercy and pro- 
tection of God ; so now he continued in the same, and lest he 
should seem to perish wilfully, both he and we did our best 
endeavour to save ourselves, which it pleased God so to bless, 
that in the end vv'^e cleared ourselves most happily of the 
danger. 

We lightened our ship upon the rocks of three tons of 
cloves, eight pieces of ordnance, and certain meal and beans ; 
and then the wind (as it were in a moment by the special 
grace of God) changing from the starboard to the larboard of 
the ship, we hoisted our sails, and the happy gale drove our 
ship off the rock, into the sea again, to the no little comfort 
of all our hearts, for which we gave God such praise and 
thanks, as so great a benefit required. 

On the 8th of February following, we fell in with the 
fruitful island of Barateue, [Borneo] having in the mean 
time suffered many dangers by winds and shoals. . . . 

At our departure from Barateue, we set our course for 
Java Major, [Java] where arriving, we found great cour- 
tesy, and honourable entertainment 

Not long before our departure, they told us that not far 
off there were such great ships as ours, wishing us to be- 



t 



ELIZABETHAN SEAMEN 325 

ware; upon this our captain would stay no longer. From 
Java Major we sailed for the Cape of Good Hope, which 
was the first land we fell in withal; neither did we touch 
with it, or any other land, until we came to Sierra Leone, 
upon the cost of Guinea ; notwithstanding we ran hard 
aboard the Cape, finding the report of the Portuguese to 
be most false, who affirm that it is the most dangerous Cape 
of the world, never without intolerable storms and present 
danger to travellers which come near the same. This Cape 
is a most stately thing, and the fairest Cape we saw in the 
whole circumference of the earth, and we passed by it on the 
i8th of June. From thence we continued our course to 
Sierra Leone, on the cost of Guinea, where we arrived on 
the 22nd of July, and found necessary provisions, great store 
of elephants, oysters upon trees of one kind, spawing and in- 
creasing infinitely, the oyster suffering no bud to grow. We 
departed thence on the 24th day. 

We arrived in England on the 3rd of November, 1580, 
being the third year of our departure. 

(Hakluyt, ed. cit., p. 145.) 

146. Frobisher's First Voyage 

Hakluyt 

Sir Martin Frobisher (1535-1594) was distinctively the navi- 
gator of the time of Elizabeth in whom Cohmibus' desire to 
discover a short passage to Cathay found expression. Through 
this, the third great incentive to English exploration, he made 
voyage after voyage to the northern coast of America. The ac- 
count of George Best, one of those who accompanied Frobisher 
on his first voyage, well illustrates the character of the expedi- 
tion, and also gives us a view of the speculative fever that 
burned in the veins of Englishmen. To these the pyrites — 
well termed "fools' gold" — brought back by Frobisher, opened 
visions of treasure surpassing that of the fabled city of Manoa. 

NARRATIVE BY GEORGE BEST 

Which thing being well considered, and familiarly known 
to our general Captain Frobisher, as well for that he is 
thoroughly furnished of the knowledge of the sphere and 
all other skills appertaining to the art of navigation ; as also 
for the confirmation he hath of the same by many years' 
experience both by sea and land, and being persuaded of a 
new and nearer passage to Cathay than by Capo de Buona 
Speranza, which the Portuguese yearly use: he began first 
with himself to. devise, and then with his friends to confer, 
and laid a plain plot unto them that that voyage was not only 



326 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

possible by the north-west, but also, he could prove, easy to 
be performed. . . . 

He prepared two small barques of twenty and five-and- 
twenty tons a-piece, wherein he intended to accomplish his 
pretended voyage. Wherefore, being furnished with the 
forsaid two barques, and one small pinnace of ten tons bur- 
den, having therein victuals and other necessaries for twelve 
months' provision, he departed upon the said voyage from 
Blackwall, on the 15th of June, anno domini 1576. . . . 

. . . And on the 20th of July he had sight of an high land, 
which he called Queen Elizabeth's Foreland, after her Ma- 
jesty's name. And sailing more northerly along that coast, 
he descried another foreland, with a great gut, bay, or pas- 
sage, dividing as it were two main lands or continents asun- 
der. There he met with store of exceeding great ice all this 
coast along, and coveting still to continue his course to the 
northwards, was always by contrary winds detained over- 
thwart these straits, and could not get beyond. Within a few 
days after, he perceived the ice to be well consumed and 
gone, either there engulfed in by some swift currents or in- 
drafts, carried more to the southwards of the same straits, 
or else conveyed some other way; wherefore he determined 
to make proof of this place, to see how far that gut had con- 
tinuance, and whether he might carry himself through the 
same into some open sea on the back-side, whereof he con- 
ceived no small hope; and so entered the same on the 21st 
day of July, and passed above fifty leagues therein, as he re- 
ported, having upon either hand a great main of con- 
tinent. . . . 

And it is especially to be remembered that at their first 
arrival in those parts there lay so great store of ice all the 
coast along, so think together, that hardly his boat could pass 
unto the shore. At length, after divers attempts, he com- 
manded his company, if by any possible means they could get 
ashore, to bring him whatsoever thing they could first find, 
whether it were living or dead, stock or stone, in token of 
Christian possession, which thereby he took in behalf of 
the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty, thinking that thereby 
he might justify the having and enjoying of the same things 
that grew in these unknown parts. 

Some of his company brought flowers, some green grass, 
and one brought a piece of black stone, much like to a sea 
coal in colour, which by the weight seemed to be some kind 
of metal or mineral. This was a thing of no account in the 



ELIZABETHAN SEAMEN 327 

judgment of the captain at first sight; and yet for novehy 
it was kept in respect of the place from whence it came. 

After his arrival in London, being demanded of sundry 
his friends what thing he had brought them home out of 
that country, he had nothing left to present them withal but 
a piece of this black stone. And it fortuned a gentlewoman, 
one of the adventurers' wives, to have a piece thereof, which 
by chance she threw and burned in the fire, so long, that at 
the length being taken forth and quenched in a little vinegar, 
it glistered with a bright marquesite of gold. Whereupon 
the matter being called in some question, it was brought to 
certain gold-finers in London to make assay thereof, who 
gave out that it held gold, and that very richly for the quan- 
tity. Afterwards the same gold-finers promised great mat- 
ters thereof if there were any store to be found and offered 
themselves to adventure for the searching of those parts 
from whence the same was brought. Some that had great 
hope of the matter sought secretly to have a lease at Her 
Majesty's hands of those places, whereby to enjoy the mass 
of so great a public profit unto their own private gains. 

(Hakluyt, ed. cit., p. 64.) 

147. The Beginnings of American Colonization 

In 1584 Sir Walter Raleigh fitted out an expedition for the 
purpose of exploration with a view to establishing a colony. 
This resulted in the discovery of a country which was afterward 
known as Virginia. The extract given was written by Arthur 
Barlowe, one of the captains of the expedition, and by him sent 
to Raleigh. The account is more picturesque than accurate, but 
is interesting as illustrating the fourth of the great incentives to 
the sea-rovers of the Elizabethan era — the incentive of coloniza- 
tion. 

FIRST VOYAGE TO VIRGINIA 

(1584) 

The 27th day of April, in the year of our redemption, 
1584, we departed the West of England, with two barks 
well furnished with men and victuals, having received our 
last and perfect directions by your letters, confirming the 
former instructions and commandments delivered by your- 
self at our leaving the river of Thames. And I think, in a 
matter both unneccessary, for the manifest discovery of the 
Country, as also for tediousness sake, to remember unto you 
the diurnal of our course, sailing thither and returning; only 
I have presumed to present unto you this brief discourse, by 



328 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

which you may judge how profitable this land is like to 
succeed, as well to yourself (by whose direction and charge, 
and by whose servants this our discourse hath been per- 
formed) as also to her Highness, and the Commonwealth, 
in which we hope your wisdom will be satisfied, considering 
that as much by us hath been brought to light, as by those 
small means, and number of men we had, could any way 
have been expected, or hoped for. 

The tenth of May we arrived at the Canaries, and the 
tenth of June in this present year, we w^ere fallen with the 
Islands of the West Indies. . . . 

The second of July, we found shoal water, where we smelt 
so sweet and so strong a smell, as if we had been in the midst 
of some delicate garden abounding with all kinds of odorif- 
erous flowers, by which we were assured, that the land could 
not be far distant: and keeping good watch, and bearing 
good slack sail, the fourth of the same month we arrived 
upon the coast, which we supposed to be a continent and firm 
land, and we sailed along the same a hundred and twenty 
English miles before we could find any entrance, or river 
issuing into the sea. The first that appeared unto us, we 
entered, though not without some difficulty, and cast anchor 
about three arquebus-shot within the haven's mouth, on the 
left hand of the same; and after thanks given to God for 
our safe arrival thither, we manned our boats, and went to 
view the land next adjoining, and "to take possession of the 
same, in the right of the Queen's most excellent Majesty, as 
rightful Queen, and Princess of the same, and after de- 
livered the same over to your use, according to her Majesty's 
grant, and letters patent, under her Highness' Great Seal. 
Which being performed, according to the ceremonies used 
in such enterprises, we viewed the land about us, being, 
whereas we first landed, very sandy and low towards the 
water's side, but so full of grapes, as the very beating and 
surge of the sea overflowed them. . . . 

We passed from the sea side towards the tops of those 
hills next adjoining, being but of mean hight, and from 
thence we beheld the sea on both sides to the north, and to 
the south, finding no end any of both ways. This land lay 
stretching itself to the west, which after we found to be but 
an island of twenty miles long, and not above six miles 
broad. Under the bank or hill whereon we stood, we beheld 
the valleys replenished with goodly cedar trees, and having 
discharged our harquebus-shot, such a flock of cranes (the 



ELIZABETHAN SEAMEN 329 

most part white) arose under us, with such a cry redoubled 
by many echoes, as if an army of men had shouted all 
together. 

The islands had many goodly woods full of deer, conies, 
hares, and fowl, even in the midst of summer in incredible 
abundance. The woods are not such as you find in Bohe- 
mia, Moscovia, or Hercynia, barren and fruitless, but the 
highest and reddest of cedars in the world, far bettering 
the cedars of the Azores, of the Indies, or Libanus ; pines, 
cypress, sassafras, the lentiscus, or the tree that beareth the 
mastic, the tree that beareth the rinde of black cinammon, 
of which Master Winter brought from the Straits of Magel- 
lan, and many other of excellent smell and quality. We re- 
mained by the side of the Islands two whole days before we 
saw any people of the country: the third day we espied one 
small boat rowing towards us, having in it three persons : 
this boat came to the Island side, four arquebus-shot from 
our ships, and there two of the people remaining, the third 
came along the shoreside towards us, and we being then all 
within board, he walked up and down upon the point of the 
land next unto us : then the master and the pilot of the Ad- 
miral, Simon Ferdinando, and the Captain Philip Amadas, 
myself, and others rowed to the land, whose coming this fel- 
low attended, never making any show of fear or doubt. And 
after he had spoken of many things not understood by us, 
we brought him with his own good liking, aboard the ships, 
and gave him a shirt, a hat, and some other things, and made 
him taste of our wine, and our meat, which he liked very 
well: and after having viewed both barks, he departed, and 
went to his own boat again, which he had left in a little cove 
or creek adjoining: as soon as he was two bow shot into the 
water, he fell to fishing, and in less than half an hour, he had 
laden his boat as deep, as it could swim, w^ith which he came 
again to the point of land, and there he divided his fish into 
two parts, appointing one part to the ship, and the other to 
the pinnace: which, after he had (as much as he might) 
requited the former benefits received, departed out of our 
sight. 

The next day there came unto us divers boats, and in one 
of them the King's brother, accompanied with forty or fifty 
men, very handsome and goodly people, and in their be- 
havior as mannerly and civil as any in Europe. His name 
was Granganimeo, and the king is called Wingina, the coun- 
try Wingandacoa, and now by her Majesty Virginia 



330 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

The soil is very plentiful, sweet, fruitful and wholesome of 
all the world : there are about fourteen several sweet smell- 
ing timber trees, and most part of their underwoods are 
bays, and such like: They have those oaks that we have, 
but far greater and better. After they had been divers times 
aboard our ships, myself, with seven more went twenty mile 
into the river, that runneth toward the city of Skicoak, 
which river they call Occam : and the evening following, we 
came to an island, which they call Roanoak, distant from 
the harbor by which we entered, seven leagues: and at the 
north end thereof there was a village of nine houses, built 
of cedar, and fortified round about with sharp trees, to keep 
out their enemies, and the entrance into it made like a turn- 
pike very artifically. . . . 

Beyond this island there is the main land, and over against 
this island falleth into this spacious water, the great river 
called Occam by the inhabitants, on which standeth a town 
called Pomeiock, and six days journey from the same is 
situated their greatest city, called Skicoak, which this people 
affirm to be very great: but the savages were never at it, 
only they speak of it by the report of their fathers and other 
men, whom they have heard affirm it to be about one hour's 
journey about. 

Into this river falleth another great river, called Cipo, in 
which there is found great store of muscles in which there 
are pearls : likewise there descendeth into this Occam, another 
river, called Nomopana. . . . 

Towards the Southwest, four day's journey is situated a 
town called Sequotan, which is the southermost town of 
Wingandacoa, near unto which, six and twenty years past, 
there was a ship cast away, whereof some of the people were 
saved, and those were white people, whom the country people 
preserved . . . other than these, there was never any people 
apparelled, or white of colour, either seen, or heard of 
amongst these people, and these aforesaid were seen only 
by the inhabitants of Secotan, which appeared to be very 
true, for they wondered marvelously when we were amongst 
them at the whiteness of our skins, ever coveting to touch 
our breasts, and to view the same. Besides they had our 
ships in marvelous admiration and all things else were so 
strange unto them, as it appeared that none of them had 
ever seen the like. When we discharged any piece, were it 
but an arquebus, they would tremble thereat for very fear, 
and for the strangeness of the same : for the weapons which 



ELIZABETHAN SEAMEN 331 

themselves use are bows and arrows: the arrows are but of 
small canes, headed with a sharp shell or tooth of a fish 
sufficient enough to kill a naked man. Their swords be of 
wood hardened: likewise they use wooden breastplates for 
their defence. They have beside a kind of club, in the end 
whereof they fasten the sharp horns of a stag, or other 
beast. When they go to wars they carry about with them 
their idol, of whom they ask counsel, as the Romans were 
wont of the oracle of Apollo. They sing songs as they 
march towards the battle instead of drums and trumpets: 
their wars are very cruel and bloody, by reason whereof and 
of their civil dissensions which have happened of late years 
amongst them, the people are marvelously wasted, and in 
some places the country left desolate. . . . 

Beyond this island called Roanoak, are main islands very 
plentiful of fruits and other natural increases, together with 
many towns, and villages, along the side of the continent, 
some bounding upon the islands, and some stretching up 
further into the land. . . . 

Thus Sir, we have acquainted you with the particulars 
of our discovery made this present voyage, as far forth as 
the shortness of the time we were continued would afford 
us to take views of: and so contenting ourselves with this 
service at this time, which we hope hereafter to enlarge, as 
occasion and assistance shall be given, we resolved to leave 
the country, and to apply ourselves to return for England, 
which we did accordingly, and arrived safely in the west of 
England about the middle of September. 

(Ed. from Hakluyt, The Principal Navigations, etc., Lond., 1598-1600.) 



PART VI 

THE STRUGGLE FOR CONSTITU- 
TIONAL GOVERNMENT 

(1603-1688) 



333 



CHAPTER XX 

THE REIGN OF JAMES I. 
148. Coronation Oath of James I. 

Tattner Jl/SS, 

The following oath should be compared with that taken by- 
Edward II., two centuries before (No. 89). In that space of 
four centuries, with all the tremendous changes in ecclesias- 
tical organization, the coronation oaths of the sovereigns of Eng- 
land altered but little ; yet in comparing those instanced, we find 
sufficient difference to indicate that the king had taken the place 
which the Pope once held, and that the Church of the State was 
no longer the child of Rome. 

Archbishop. Sir, will you grant and keep and by your oath 
confirm to your people of England the laws and customs to 
them granted by the kings of England your lawful and re- 
ligious predecessors ; and namely the laws, customs and 
franchises granted to clergy and to the people by the glorious 
king, St. Edward, your predecessor, according and con- 
formable to the laws of God and true profession of the 
gospel established in this kingdom, and agreeing to the 
prerogatives of the kings thereof and to the ancient customs 
of this realm ? 

King. I grant and promise to keep them. 

A. Will you keep peace and agreement entirely, according 
to your power, both to God, the holy church, the clergy and 
the people ? 

K. 1 will keep it. 

A. Will you to your power cause law, justice and discre- 
tion in mercy and truth to be executed in all your judg- 
ments ? 

K. I will. 

A. Sir, will you grant to hold and keep the laws and right- 
ful customs which the commonalty of your kingdom have, 
and to defend and uphold them to the honour of God, so 
much as in you lieth ? 

K. I grant and promise so to do. 

335 



33^ SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

Sequitur admonitio episcoporum, etc. 

Our lord and king, we beseech you to grant and preserve 
unto us and every one of us and the churches committed to 
our charge all canonical privileges and due law and justice, 
and that you would protect and defend us as every good 
king in his kingdom ought to be a protector and defender 
of the bishops and churches under their government. 

K. With a willing and devout heart I promise and grant 
that I will preserve and maintain to you and every of you 
and the churches committed to your charge all canonical 
privileges and due law and justice, and that I will be your 
protector and defender to my power by the assistance of God, 
as every good king in his kingdom ought to protect and de- 
fend the bishops and churches under their government. 

{Statutes afid Constittitiojial D ocumetits , Prothero, Oxford, 1894, p. 391.) 



149. The Crown above the Courts 

James I. 

The cause of the ruin of the Stuart dynasty may be read in 
the political works of the first English king of that house. In 
the mind of James I. the doctrine of the divine right of kings 
and of the absolute power of the sovereign were firmly fixed. 
These theories were expressed by the acts as well as the words 
of the first Stuart. In the speech which he made in the Star 
Chamber on June 20, 1601, the subordination of the judicial 
power to that of the Crown is stated clearly and positively. 

... I am next to come to the limits wherein you are to 
bound yourselves, which likewise are three. First, encroach 
not upon the prerogative of the crown : if there falls out a 
question that concerns my prerogative or mystery of state, 
deal not with it, till you consult with the king or his council, 
or both; for they are transcendent matters and must not be 
deliberately carried out with over-rash wilfulness. . . . That 
which concerns the mystery of the king's power is not lawful 
to be disputed; for that is to wade into the weakness of 
princes, and to take away the mystical reverence that be- 
longs unto them that sit on the throne of God. 

Secondly, that you keep yourselves within your own 
benches, not to invade other jurisdictions, which is unfit and 
an unlawful thing. . . . Keep therefore all in your own 
bounds, and for my part, I desire you to give me no more 
right, in my private prerogative, than you give any subject, 
and therein I will be acquiescent : as for the absolute prerog- 



THE REIGN OF JAMES I. 



jj7 



atlve of the crown, that is no subject for the tongue of a 
lawyer, nor is lawful to be disputed. 

It is atheism and blasphemy to dispute what God can do: 
good Christians content themselves with his will revealed in 
his word, so it is presumption and high contempt in a subject 
to dispute what a king can do, or say that a king cannot do 
this or that; but rest in that which is the king's revealed will 
in his law. 

(JVorks of James /., Lond., 1616, p. 556.) 

150. The King is above the Law 

James I. 

James I. from the first day of his reign disclaimed the power 
of Parliament to control the will of the sovereign. He claimed 
the power to make, amend or alter laws as w^ell as the right to 
abrogate them. The dispensing and suspending power was af- 
firmed in its most arbitrary form. The following selection aptly 
illustrates the Stuart theory of the royal prerogative. 

According to these fundamental laws already alleged, we 
daily see that in the parliament (which is nothing else but 
the head court of the king and his vassals) the laws are 
but craved by his subjects, and only made by him at their 
rogation and with their advice : for albeit the king make 
daily statutes and ordinances, enjoining such pains thereto 
as he thinks meet, without any advice of parliament or 
estates, yet it lies in the power of no parliament to make any 
kind of law or statute, without his sceptre be to it, for giving 
it the force of a law . . . And as ye see it manifest that the 
king is over-lord of the whole land, so is he master over 
every person that inhabiteth the same, having power over the 
life and death of every one of them: for although a just 
prince will not take the life of any of his subjects without 
a clear law, yet the same laws whereby he takeththem are 
made by himself or his predecessors ; and so the power flows 
always from himself ; as by daily experience we see good and 
just princes will from time to time make new laws and 
statiites, adjoining the penalties to the breakers thereof, which 
before the law was made had been no crime to the subject to 
have committed . . . And where he sees the law doubtsome or 
rigorous, he may interpret or mitigate the same, lest other- 
wise snmmnm jus be suinnia injuria: and therefore general 
laws made publicly in parliament may upon known respects 
to the king by his authority be mitigated and suspended upon 
causes only known to him. 

As likewise, although I have said a good king will frame 



338 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

all his actions to be according to the law, yet is he not bound 
thereto but of his good will, and for good example-giving 
to his subjects ... So as I have already said, a good king, 
though he .be above the law, will subject and frame his ac~ 
tions thereto, for example's sake to his subjects, and of his 
own free will, but not as subject or bound thereto. . . . 

(Lam of Free Monarchies in Works of James /., p. 202, ed. cit.) 

151. The Millenary Petition 

(1603) 

Chtirch History, Fuller 

While James I. was journeying to London to take his place 
on the English throne, the Puritan clergy presented to him the 
paper known to us as the Millenary Petition. This document 
received its name from the number of signatures supposed to 
be attached thereto, although it is doubtful if it was signed at 
all. The petition prayed for "a reformation in the church ser- 
vice, ministry, livings, and discipline." The petition led to the 
Hampton Court Conference, in which James declared his ad- 
herence to the Episcopal form of church government as carried 
out by the Anglican Church. 

THE HUMBLE PETITION OF THE MINISTERS OF THE CHURCH 
OF ENGLAND DESIRING REFORMATION OF CERTAIN CER- 
EMONIES AND ABUSES OF THE CHURCH 

To the most Christian and excellent prince, our gracious 
and dread Sovereign, James, by the grace of God, etc., we, 
the ministers of the Church of England that desire reforma- 
tion, wish a long, prosperous and happy reign over us in this 
life, and in the next everlasting salvation. 

Most gracious and dread Sovereign, seeing it hath pleased 
the Divine Majesty, to the great comfort of all good Chris- 
tians, to advance your Highness, according to your just title, 
to the peaceable government of this church and common- 
wealth of England, we, the ministers of the gospel in this 
land, neither as factious men affecting a popular parity in 
the church nor as schismatics aiming at the dissolution of 
the state ecclesiastical, but as the faithful servants of Christ 
and loyal subjects of your Majesty, desiring and longing for 
the redress of divers abuses of the church, could do no less 
in our obedience to God, service to your Majesty, love to his 
church, than acquaint your princely Majesty with our par- 
ticular griefs. For, as your princely pen writeth, the King as 
a good physician must first know what peccant humours his 
patient naturally is most subject unto before he can begin 



THE REIGN OF JAMES I. 339 

his cure. And although divers of us that sue for reforma- 
tion have formerly in respect of the times subscribed to the 
book, some upon protestation, some upon exposition given 
them, some with condition, rather than the church should 
have been deprived of their labour and ministry, yet now we, 
to the number of more than a thousand of your Majesty's 
subjects and ministers, all groaning as under a common 
burthen of human rites and ceremonies, do with one joint 
consent humble ourselves at your Majesty's feet, to be eased 
and relieved in this behalf. Our humble suit then unto your 
Majesty is, that [of] these offences following, some may be 
removed, some amended, some qualified: 

I. In the church service: — That the cross in baptism, in- 
terrogatories ministered to infants, confirmation, as super- 
fluous, may be taken away. Baptism not to be ministered 
by women, and so explained. The cap and surplice not 
urged. That examination may go before the communion. 
That it be ministered w^ith a sermon. That divers terms of 
priests and absolution and some other used, with the ring in 
marriage, and other such like in the book may be corrected. 
The longsomeness of service abridged. Church songs and 
music moderated to better edification. That the Lord's day 
be not profaned : the rest upon holidays not so strictly urged. 
That there be an uniformity of doctrine prescribed. No 
popish opinion to be any more taught or defended : no minis- 
ters charged to teach their people to bow at the name of 
Jesus. That the canonical scriptures only be read in the 
church. 

II. Concerning church ministers: — That none hereafter 
be admitted into the ministry but able and sufficient men, and 
those to preach diligently, and especially upon the Lord's 
day. That such as be already entered and cannot preach 
may either be removed and some charitable course taken with 
them for their relief, or else to be forced, according to the 
value of their livings, to maintain preachers. That non- 
residency be not permitted. That King Edward's statute 
[5 & 6 E. VI. 12] for the lawfulness of ministers' marriage 
be revived. That ministers be not urged to subscribe but 
according to the law to the articles of religion and the King's 
supremacy only. 

III. For church living and maintenance: — That bishops 
leave their commendams, some holding prebends, some par- 
sonages, some vicarages, with their bishoprics. That double- 
beneficed men be not suffered to hold some two, some three 



340 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

benefices with cure, and some two, three or four dignities 
besides. That impropriations annexed to bishoprics and 
colleges be demised only to the preachers' incumbents for the 
old rent. That the impropriations of layman's fees may be 
charged with a. sixth or seventh part of the worth, to the 
maintenance of the preaching minister. 

IV. For church discipline: — That the discipline and ex- 
communication may be administered according to Christ's 
own institution, or at least that enormities may be redressed ; 
as, namely, that excommunication come not forth under the 
name of lay persons, chancellors, officials, etc. That men be 
not excommunicated for trifles and twelve-penny matters: 
that none be excommunicated without the consent of his 
pastor. That the officers be not suffered to extort un- 
reasonable fees. That none having jurisdiction or registers' 
places put out the same to farm. That divers popish canons 
(as for restraint of marriage at certain times) be reversed. 
That the longsomeness of suits in ecclesiastical courts, 
which hang sometimes two, three, four, five, six or seven 
years, may be restrained. That the oath ex officio, whereby 
men are forced to accuse themselves, be more sparingly used. 
That licences for marriage without banns asked be more 
cautiously granted. 

These, with such other abuses yet remaining and practised 
in the Church of England, we are able to show not to be 
agreeable to the Scriptures, if it shall please your Highness 
further to hear us, or more at large by writing to be in- 
formed, or by conference among the learned to be resolved. 
And yet we doubt not but that without any further process 
your Majesty (of whose Christian judgment we have re- 
ceived so good a taste already) is able of yourself to judge 
of the equity of this cause. God, we trust, hath appointed 
your Highness our physician to heal these diseases. And we 
say with Mordecai to Hester, "Who knoweth whether you are 
come to the kingdom for such a time?" [Esth, iv. 14]. 
Thus your Majesty shall do that which we are persuaded 
shall be acceptable to God, honourable to your Majesty in all 
succeeding ages, profitable to his church, which shall be 
thereby increased, comfortable to your ministers, who shall 
be no more suspended, silenced, disgraced, imprisoned for 
men's traditions, and prejudicial to none but to those that 
seek their own quiet, credit and profit in the world. Thus 
with all dutiful submission referring ourselves to your Ma- 
jesty's pleasure for your gracious answer as God shall direct 



THE REIGN OF JAMES I. 341 

you, we most humbly recommend your Highness to the 
Divine Majesty, whom we beseech for Christ his sake to 
dispose your royal heart to do herein what shall be to his 
glory, the good of his church, and your endless comfort. 

Your Majesty's most humble subjects, the ministers of the 
gospel, that desire, not a disorderly innovation, but a due and 
godly reformation. 

(^The Church History of Brit ai7t, from the Birth of Jesus Christ initil the 
year 162? ^ ed. T. Fuller, 3rd Ed., Lond. 1842, vol. Ill, p. 193.) 

152. Levying a Feudal Aid 

(l6l2) 

Fcedera, Ryiner 

Even in the seventeenth century, the feudal dues continued to 
be an important source of the royal revenue, and so continued 
until abolished in 1660 by the statute of 12 Car. II, c. 24. The 
directions, given below, for the levying of an aid in 1612 should 
be compared with those given in the reign of Richard I. (No. 
65.) 

Whereas our eldest daughter Elizabeth hath long since ac- 
complished the age of seven years, by reason whereof there is 
due unto us by the laws and statutes of this our realm of 
England reasonable aid to be had and levied of all our im- 
mediate tenants by knight's service and in soccage for her 
marriage : These are therefore to will and require you our 
Chancellor to cause to be made and sealed under our great 
seal of England as well several commissions to be directed 
unto all the counties of this our said realm according to the 
form of a draught of a commission for that purpose to these 
presents annexed, as also several commissions for the Cinque 
Ports and for compounding with all the Lords spiritual and 
temporal of this our realm and with the masters . . . and 
other the heads of houses, halls and colleges of our Uni- 
versities of Oxford and Cambridge, according to several 
draughts hereunto likewise annexed, changing such things 
therein as are to be changed, and to direct them to such com- 
missioners as you with the Lord Privy Seal and our Chan- 
cellor of our Exchequer shall name and appoint, returnable 
at the days of the several draughts prefixed, and the same 
several commissions to renew to the same commissioners or 
any others according to your directions as often as need 
shall require, and also to name and choose any two of the 
said commissioners in every county respectively to be col- 
lectors for the same aid; and these shall be your sufficient 
warrant in that behalf. 



"W. 



342 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

Given under our signet at Woodstock the 30th day of 

August in the loth year of our reign of England, France and 

Ireland, and of Scotland the six and fortieth. 

Pe7' ipsum Regem 
{Fxdera, Rymer, vol. XVI, p. 724.) 

153. Benevolences 

(1622) 

Rushworth Collection 
Car dwell Documents 

Edward IV., in 1473, was the first king to mask the forced 
loans exacted by several of. his predecessors and successors as 
"Benevolences." After his time, though the kings continued to 
extort loans, or more properly tribute, from their subjects with- 
out legal warrant, the extortions were to be "free gifts." The 
practice was declared illegal by Richard II. in the first year of 
his reign, yet in the second it was made use of. The extortion 
of Benevolences was practised by the Tudors, and under the 
Stuarts it became a crying abuse, which the express prohibition 
contained in the Petition of Right did not overcome, for in 1661 
a limited Benevolence was authorized by Parliament. To this, 
however, was attached the condition that in future the exaction 
of these Benevolences was to be under the absolute control of 
Parliament instead of the king. The following letters are ex- 
tremely illuminating: .(A) the form that was sent to the Jus- 
tices of the Courts at Westminster and to the Barons of the 
Exchequer as well as to civil officials was with the addition of 
(5) sent by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the greater ec- 
clesiastics generally on receipt of letters from the king requir- 
ing contributions from ecclesiastics. 

(A) . . . What endeavours his Majesty hath used by treaty 
and by all fair and amiable ways to recover the patrimony of 
his children in Germany, nov/ for the most part withholden 
from them by force, is not unknown to all his loving subjects, 
since his Majesty was pleased to communicate to them in 
parliament his whole proceedings in that business : of which 
treaty, being of late frustrate, he was enforced to take other 
resolutions, namely, to recover that by the sword which by 
other means he saw no likelihood to compass. For which 
purpose it was expected by his Majesty that his people in 
parliament would (in a cause so nearly concerning his and 
his children's interest) have cheerfully contributed there- 
unto. But the same unfortunately failing, his Majesty is 
constrained, in a case of so great necessity, to try the dutiful 
affections of his loving subjects in another way, as his pre- 
decessors have done in former times, by propounding unto 
them a voluntary contribution. And therefore, as yourselves 
have already given a liberal and worthy example (which his 
Majesty doth take in very gracious part), so his pleasure is, 



I 



THE REIGN Of JAMES I. 343 

and we do accordingly hereby authorize and require your 
lordships, as well to countenance and assist the service by 
your best means, in your next circuits, in the several counties 
where you hold general assizes, as also now presently with 
all convenient expedition to call before you all the officers 
and attorneys belonging to any his Majesty's courts of jus- 
tice, and also all such others of the houses and societies of 
court or that otherwise have dependence upon the law, as are 
meet to be treated withal in this kind and have not already 
contributed; and to move them to join willingly in this con- 
tribution in some good measure, answerable to that your- 
selves and others have done before, according to their means 
and fortunes; wherein his Majesty doubteth not, but beside 
the interest of his children and his own crown and dignity, 
the religion professed by his Majesty and happily flourishing 
under him within this kingdom (having a great part in the 
success of this business) will be a special motive to incite and 
persuade them thereunto. Nevertheless, if any person shall, 
out of obstinacy or disaffection, refuse to contribute herein 
proportionably to their estates and means, you are to certify 
their names unto this board. 

And so recommending this service to your best care and 
endeavour, and praying you to return unto us notes of the 
names of such as shall contribute and of the sums offered by 
them, we bid [etc.]. 

{^Historical Collections of Private Passages of State, etc., 
ed. J. Rushworth, 1682, I, p. 60.) 

(B) ... Your Lordship by these letters may see how far it 
concerneth his Majesty in honour and the realm in safety, 
that the patrimony of the King's children should be recovered 
again by force of war, since it cannot be obtained by treaty. 
. . . We therefore, who upon the receipt of these his Majesty's 
letters have met together and duly considered what was most 
convenient to be done, have resolved that 3.9. \od. in the 
pound is as little as we can possibly offer towards so great 
an enterprise, yet hoping that such as be of ability will ex- 
ceed the same. You shall therefore do well by all forcible 
reason, drawn from the defence of religion and justice, to 
incite all your clergy ... as also the lecturers and licensed 
schoolmasters within your diocese, that with all readiness 
they do contribute towards this noble action. And whereas 
there be divers commendataries, dignitaries, prebendaries 
and double-beneficed men that have livings in several dioce- 



344 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

ses, we hold it fit that for every one of these within your 
Lordship's diocese the contribution be rateable, so that the 
monies in such sort to be given may be brought to London by 
the loth day of March next, to be delivered to the hands of 
such receivers as for that purpose shall be appointed. And 
to the end that true notice may be taken of such as are best 
disposed to this so good a service, we expect that your 
Lordship send up to the Archbishop of Canterbury the sev- 
eral sums and names of all those who contribute; and lastly 
. . . that you cause the preachers within your diocese in a 
grave and discreet fashion to excite the people that, when 
occasion shall serve, they do extend their liberalities to so 
Christian and worthy an enterprise : Wherein not doubting 
but your lordship will use alll your best, prudent, and most 
careful endeavours, we leave you to the Almighty. From 
Lambeth, 21. Januarii MDCXXL Junxta etc. 

G. Cant. 

Jo. Lincoln, C.S. 
[and twelve other bishops]. 

(Cardwell, Docuvt. Annals, Oxford, 1844, vol. II, p. 196.) 

154. James I. and the Commons 

Parliamentary History 

The policy of James L was the reverse of conciliatory in the 
contest with Parliament upon its constitutional rights. The 
Commons' side of the question is set forth in the protest re- 
corded on December 18, the day of the forced adjournment, in 
the Journal Book. The King struck out the record with his 
own hand, and the memorial which is given by the historian 
shows the royal opinion on the matter immediately in question, 
as well as hinting James' general conceptions of constitutional 
rule. The incident forms a fitting introduction to the stormy 
rule of Charles I. 

The Commons now assembled in Parliament, being justly 
occassioned thereunto concerning sundry Liberties, Fran- 
chises, and Privileges of Parliament, amongst others here 
mentioned, do make this Protestation following. That the Lib- 
erties, Franchises, Privileges, and Jurisdictions of Parliament, 
are the ancient and undoubted Birth-right and Inheritance 
of the Subjects of England; and that the arduous and urgent 
Affairs concerning the King, State, and Defence of the 
Realm, and of the Church of England; and the Maintenance 
and Making of Laws, and Redress of Mischiefs and Griev- 
ances which daily happen within this Realm, are proper 
Subjects and Matter of Counsel and Debate in Parliament; 



THE REIGN OF JAMES I. 34S 

and that in the handling and proceeding of those Businesses, 
every Member of the House of Parliament hath, and of 
Right, ought to have Freedom of Speech, to propound, treat, 
reason, and bring to Conclusion the same : And that the 
Commons in Parliament have like Liberty and Freedom to 
treat of these Matters in such Order, as in their Judgments 
shall seem fittest: And that every Member of the said House 
hath like Freedom from all Impeachment, Imprisonment, and 
Molestation (other than by Censure of the House itself) for 
or concerning any speaking, reasoning, or declaring any 
Matter or Matters touching the Parliament, or Parliament- 
Business: And that if any of the said Members be com- 
plained of, and questioned for any thing done or said in 
Parliament, the same is to be shewed to the King by the 
Advice and Assent of all the Commons assembled in Par- 
liament, before the King give Credence to any private In- 
formation. 

This Protestation was made and recorded in the Journal- 
Book of the Commons, December the i8th, the Day of Ad- 
journment. But how the King took it, will best appear, by 
his sending for the Journal-Book of the Commons, in Council, 
and striking out the Protestation zvith his ozvn hand; and by 
the following Memorial, which was published soon after, as 
is seen by the Date of it . . . 

Whitehall, December 30, 1621. 
"His Most Excellent Majesty coming this Day to the 
Council, the Prince his Highness, and all the Lords and 
others of his Majesty's Privy-Council sitting about him, and 
all the Judges then in London, which were six in Number, 
there attending upon his Majesty; the Clerk of the Commons 
House of Parliament was called for, and commanded to 
produce his Journal-Book, wherein was noted, the Entries 
made of most Passages that were in the Commons House 
of Parliament; and amongst other Things there was written 
down the Form of a Protestation concerning sundry Liberties, 
Privileges, and Franchises of Parliament; with which Form 
of Protestation his Majesty was justly offended. Never- 
theless his Majesty, in a most gracious Manner, there ex- 
pressed. That he never meant to deny that House of Com- 
mons any lawful Privileges that ever they had enjoyed ; but 
whatsoever Privileges or Liberties they had by any Law 
or Statute, the same should be inviolably preserved unto 
them; and whatsoever Privileges they enjoyed by Custom, 



346 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

or uncontroulled and lawful Precedent, his Majesty would 
be careful to preserve. But this Protestation of the Com- 
mons House, so contrived and carried as it was, his Majesty 
thought fit to be razed out of Sll Memorials, and utterly to 
be annihilated; both in respect of the Manner by which it was 
gained, and the Matter therein contained. For the Manner 
of getting it, first, in respect of the Time: For after such 
Times as his Majesty, out of princely Grace, as to take away 
all Mistakings, had directed his Letters to Secretary Calvert, 
dated at Royston, i6 Decembris, and therein had so explained 
himself, in the Point of maintaining the Privileges of the 
House of Commons, as that most of the said House rested 
fully satisfied, and freed from any Scruple of having their 
Liberties impeached: And after that, by his Majesty's Let- 
ters, directed to the Speaker, dated i8 December, being Tues- 
day, his Majesty, at the humble Suit of the House of Com- 
mons, condescended to make this Meeting a Session before 
•Christmas, and for the Purpose had assigned Saturday fol- 
lowing: Now, upon this very Tuesday, and while the Mes- 
sengers from the House of Commons were with his Majesty 
at Theobalds, to return Thanks unto his Majesty, and there- 
with an Excuse from them not to make it a Session, in 
respect of the Strait of Time whereunto they were driven; 
which Deferment his Majesty admitted of at their Desires, 
and thereupon gave Order for the Adjournment of the Parlia- 
ment until the 8th of February next, which was the first 
Day formerly appointed by his Majesty for the meeting 
together of the Parliament : And whilst their Messengers 
were with his Majesty, and had received a gracious Answer 
to return unto their House; even that Afternoon, a Com- 
mittee was procured to be made for taking their Liberties into 
Consideration: And this Afternoon a Protestation was made 
(to whom, appears not) concerning their Liberties, and at 
six o'clock at Night, by Candle-light, the same Protestation 
was brought into the House by the Committee; and at that 
Time of Night it was called upon to be put to the Question, 
there not being the third Part of the House then present; 
whereas in all Matters of Weight, their usual Custom is, to 
put nothing of Importance to the Question, till the House be 
full : And at this Time many of them that were present, ex- 
pected that the Question would have been deferred to another 
Day, and a fuller House; and some then present stood up to 
have spoken to it, but could not be seen or heard in that 
Darkness and Confusion. Now for the Matter of the Pro- 



THE REIGX OF IAMBS I. 347 

testation, it is penned in such ambiguous and general Words, 
as may serve for future Times to invade most of the Rights 
and Prerogatives annexed to the Imperial Crown ; the 
Claim of some Privileges being grounded upon the Words 
of the Writ for assembling the Parliament, wherein some 
Words, viz. Ardiiis rcgni, are cunningly mentioned, but the 
Word quibusdain, which restraineth the Generality to such 
particular Cases, as his Majesty pleaseth to consult with 
them upon, is purposely omitted. 

These Things considered, his Majesty did, this present 
Day, in full Assembly of the Council, and in the Presence of 
the Judges, declare the said Protestation to be invalid, an- 
nulled, void, and of no Effect: And did further, Mann sua 
propria; take the said Protestation out of the Journal-Book 
of the Clerk of the Commons House of Parliament ; and com- 
manded an Act of Council to be made thereupon, and this 
Act to be entered in the Register of Common-Causes. 

{Parliatnentary History, ed. cit., V, p. 512,) 



CHAPTER XXI 

THE PURITAN REVOLUTION 



155. The Petition of Right 

(3 Car. I, c. I, June 7, 1628) 

Statutes of the Reahn 

In 1628 the position of Charles I. had gone from bad to worse. 
Rash enterprises, lavish and illegal expenditure, and broken 
promises of better government had almost produced open rupture 
between the monarch and his subjects. In his third Parliament 
matters reached a point in which the Commons felt the strongest 
action to be necessary. Under the leadership of Wentworth, a 
Committee of Grievances discussed the illegal methods of the 
king, and particularly considered the matters of forced loans, 
imprisonment of subjects who refused to make such loans to 
the king, the billeting of soldiers on private persons, and punish- 
ment by the methods of martial law. The Commons then sought 
the concurrence of the Lords by means of a petition embodying 
protest against these grievances. For two months both Houses 
debated the question of steps to be taken. Aids were granted 
the king, but no regular Money Bill was passed. This Charles 
sought to secure, but the Commons refused to be cajoled by 
blandishments or frightened by threats. The king offered to 
grant a Confirmation of the Great Charter, such as had often 
been issued and disregarded by former monarchs. The Com- 
mons refused this offer, and under the leadership of Sir Edward 
Coke they drew up and passed the Petition of Right. Charles 
made repeated attempts to avoid ratifying it in a legal manner. 
He was finally compelled to give his assent in due form. The 
statute, in form of a petition, is one of the five most important 
constitutional documents of English history. 

THE PETITION EXHIBITED TO HIS MAJESTY BY THE LORDS 
SPIRITUAL AND TEMPORAL, AND COMMONS IN THIS PRES- 
ENT PARLIAMENT ASSEMBLED, CONCERNING DIVERS RIGHTS 
AND LIBERTIES OF THE SUBJECTS, WITH THE KING's 
MAJESTY^S ROYAL ANSV^ER THEREUNTO IN FULL PARLIA- 
MENT 

To the King's Most Excellent Majesty. 

Humbly show unto our Sovereign Lord the King, the 
Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons in Parliament 

348 



THE PURITAN REVOLUTION 349 

assembled, that whereas it is declared and enacted by a statute 
made in the time of the reign of King Edward the First, 
commonly called Statiitum de Tallagio non concedendo, that 
no tallage or aid shall be laid or levied by the King or his 
heirs in this realm, without the goodwill and assent of the 
Archbishops, Bishops, Earls, Barons, Knights, Burgesses, 
and other the freemen of the commonality of this realm : 
and by authority of Parliament holden in the five and 
twentieth year of the reign of King Edward the Third, it 
is declared and enacted, that from thenceforth no person 
shall be compelled to make any loans to the King against his 
will, because such loans were against reason and the franchise 
of the land; and by other laws of this realm it is provided, 
that none should be charged by any charge or imposition, 
called a Benevolence, or by such like charge, by which the 
statutes before-mentioned, and other the good laws and 
statutes of this realm, your subjects have inherited this 
freedom, that they should not be compelled to contribute to 
any tax, tallage, aid, or other like charge, not set by com- 
mon consent in Parliament : 

Yet nevertheless, of late divers commissions directed to 
sundry Commissioners in several counties with instructions 
have issued, by means whereof your people have been in 
divers places assembled, and required to lend certain sums 
of money unto your Majesty, and many of them upon their 
refusal so to do, have had an oath administered unto them, 
not warrantable by the laws or statutes of this realm, and 
have been constrained to become bound to make appearance 
and give attendance before your Privy Council, and in other 
places, and others of them have been therefore imprisoned, 
confined, and sundry other ways molested and disquieted: 
and divers other charges have been laid and levied upon 
your people in several counties, by Lords Lieutenants, Deputy 
Lieutenants, Commissioners for Musters, Justices of Peace 
and others, by command or direction from your Majesty or 
your Privy Council, against the laws and free customs of this 
realm : 

And where also by the statute called, 'The Great Charter 
of the Liberties of England,' it is declared and enacted, that 
no freeman may be taken or imprisoned or be disseised of his 
freeholds or liberties, or his free customs, or be outlawed or 
exiled; or in any manner destroyed, but by the lawful judg- 
ment of his peers, or by the law of the land : 

And in the eight and twentieth year of the reign of King 



350 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

Edward the Third, it was declared and enacted by authority 
of Parliament, that no man of what estate or condition that 
he be, should be put out of his lands or tenements, nor taken, 
nor imprisoned, nor disherited, nor put to death, without 
being brought to answer by due process of law : 

Nevertheless, against the tenor of the said statutes, and 
other the good laws and statutes of your realm, to that end 
provided, divers of your subjects have of late been imprisoned 
without any cause showed, and when for their deliverance 
they were brought before your Justices, by your Majesty's 
writs of Habeas Corpus, there to undergo and receive as the 
Court should order, and their keepers commanded to certify 
the causes of their detainer ; no cause was certified, but that 
they were detained by your Majesty's special command, sig- 
nified by the Lords of your Privy Council, and yet were re- 
turned back to several prisons, without being charged with 
anything to which they might make answer according to the 
law: 

And whereas of late great companies of soldiers and 
mariners have been dispersed into divers counties of the 
realm, and the inhabitants against their will have been com- 
pelled to receive them into their houses, and there to suffer 
them to sojourn, against the laws and customs of this realm, 
and to the great grievance and vexation of the people: 

And whereas also by authority of Parliament, in the 25tli 
year of the reign of King Edward the Third, it is declared 
and enacted, that no man shall be forejudged of life or limb 
against the form of the Great Charter, and the law of the 
land : and by the said Great Charter and other the laws and 
statutes of this your realm, no man ought to be adjudged to 
death ; but by the laws established in this your realm, either 
by the customs of the same realm or by Acts of Parliament: 
and whereas no offender of what kind soever is exempted 
from the proceedings to be used, and punishments to be in- 
flicted by the laws and statutes of this your realm: never- 
theless of late divers commissions under your Majesty's Great 
Seal have issued forth, by which certain persons have been 
assigned and appointed Commissioners with power and au- 
thority to proceed within the land according to the justice 
of martial law against such soldiers and mariners, or other 
dissolute persons joining with them, as should commit any 
murder, robbery, felony, mutiny, or other outrage or mis- 
demeanour whatsoever, and by such summary course and 
order, as is agreeable to martial law, and is used in armies 



THE PURITAN REVOLUTION 351 

in time of war, to proceed to the trial and condemnation of 
such offenders, and them to cause to be executed and put to 
death, according to the law martial : 

By pretext whereof, some of your Majesty's subjects have 
been by some of the said Commissioners put to death, when 
and where, if by the laws and statutes of the land they had 
deserved death, by the same laws and statutes also they 
might, and by no other ought to have been, adjudged and 
executed : 

And also sundry grievous offenders by colour thereof, 
claiming an exemption, have escaped the punishments due 
to them by the laws and statutes of this your realm, by 
reason that divers of your officers and ministers of justice 
have unjustly refused, or forborne to proceed against such 
offenders according to the same laws and statutes, upon pre- 
tence that the said offenders were punishable only by martial 
law, and by authority of such commissions as aforesaid, which 
commissions, and all other of like nature, are wholly and 
directly contrary to the said laws and statutes of this your 
realm: 

They do therefore humbly pray your Most Excellent Ma- 
jesty, that no man hereafter be compelled to make or yield 
any gift, loan, benevolence, tax, or such like charge, without 
common consent by Act of Parliament ; and that none be 
called to make answer, or take such oath, or to give atten- 
dance, or be confined, or otherwise molested or disquieted 
concerning the same, or for refusal thereof; and that no 
freeman, in any such manner as is before-mentioned, be im- 
prisoned or detained; and that your Majesty will be pleased 
to remove the said soldiers and mariners, and that your 
people may not be so burdened in time to come ; and that the 
foresaid commissions for proceeding by martial law, may be 
revoked and annulled; and that hereafter no commissions 
of like nature may issue forth to any person or persons what- 
soever, to be executed as aforesaid, lest by colour of them 
any of your Majesty's subjects be destroyed or put to death, 
contrary to the laws and franchise of the land. 

All which they most humbly pray of your Most Excellent 
Majesty, as their rights and liberties according to the laws 
and statutes of this realm: and that your Majesty would 
also vouchsafe to declare, that the awards, doings, and pro- 
ceedings to the prejudice of your people, in any of the pre- 
mises, shall not be drawn hereafter into consequence or 
example: and that your Majesty would be also graciously 



352 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

pleased, for the further comfort and safety of your people, 
to declare your royal will and pleasure, that in the things 
aforesaid all your officers and ministers shall serve you, 
according to the laws and statutes of this realm, as they 
tender the honour of your Majesty, and the prosperity of this 
kingdom. 

[The King's first answer, June 2, 1628: 

The King willeth that right be done according to the laws 
and customs of the realm; and that the statutes be put in 
due execution, that his subjects may have no cause to com- 
plain of any wrong or oppressions, contrary to their just 
rights and liberties, to the preservation whereof he holds 
himself as well obliged as of his prerogative. 

The King's second answer, June 7, 1628: 

So it droit fait comme il est desire.'] 

(Ed. from Stattites of the Realm., V, 24.) 

156. The First Writ of Ship-Money 

(Oct. 20, 1634) 

Rtiskworth 

The Petition of Right did not put an end to the illegal extor- 
tions of Charles I. Among other expedients, he ordained a 
revival of the old law which compelled coast cities and counties 
to send ships at the call of the king. But the demand of Charles, 
in the hands of Lord Keeper Finch, extended to inland cities 
as well. As these could send no ships, and as the lesser maritime 
towns could not send vessels of the size required by the king, 
provision was made that in these cases a money equivalent was to 
be rendered. In October, 1664,^ the first writs of ship-money — 
of which an example is given below — were issued. There was 
some opposition, but the expedient proved successful until suc- 
cessive writs in time of peace convinced the people that the king 
was using the money at the royal pleasure instead of for the 
defense of the nation. John Hampden headed the opposition 
which then became general, and the matter was taken to the 
Court of Exchequer, where the venal judges gave judgment for 
the king. The royal victory weakened the power of the crown 
as it exposed the subserviency of the Bench to the wishes of the 
Crown. 

To the Mayor, commonalty, and citizens of our city of 
London, and to the sheriffs of the same city, and good men 
in the said city and in the liberties, and members of the same, 
greeting: Because we are given to understand that certain 
thieves, pirates, and robbers of the sea, as well Turks, enemies 
of the Christian name, as others, being gathered together, 
wickedly taking by force and spoiling the ships, and goods, 
and merchandises, not only of our subjects, but also the sub- 



THE PURITAN REVOLUTION 353 

jects of our friends in the sea, which hath been accustomed 
anciently to be defended by the English nation, and the same, 
at their pleasure, have carried away, delivering the men in 
the same into miserable captivity : and forasmuch as we see 
them daily preparing all manner of shipping farther to 
molest our merchants, and to grieve the kingdom, unless 
remedy be not sooner applied, and their endeavours be not 
more manly met withal; also the dangers considered which, 
on every side, in these times of war do hang over our heads, 
that it behoveth us and our subjects to hasten the defence of 
the sea and kingdom with all expedition or speed that we 
can; we willing by the help of God chiefly to provide for the 
defence of the kingdom, safeguard of the sea, security of our 
subjects, safe conduct of ships and merchandises to our king- 
dom of England coming, and from the same kingdom to 
foreign parts passing ; forasmuch as we, and our progenitors. 
Kings of England, have been always heretofore masters of 
the aforesaid sea, and it would be very irksome unto us if 
that princely honour in our times should be lost or in any 
thing diminished. And although that charge of defence 
which concerneth all men ought to be supported by all, as by 
the laws and customs of the kingdom of England hath been 
accustomed to be done: notwithstanding we considering that 
you constituted in the sea-coasts, to whom by sea as well 
great dangers are imminent, and who by the same do get 
more plentiful gains for the defence of the sea, and con- 
servation of our princely honour in that behalf, according to 
the duty of your allegiance against such attempts, are chiefly 
bound to set to your helping hand; we command firmly, en- 
joining you the aforesaid Mayor, commonalty and citizens, 
and sheriffs of the said city, and the good men in the same 
city and in the liberties, and members of the same, in the 
faith and allegiance wherein you are bound unto us, and as 
you do love us and our honour, and under the forfeiture of 
all which you can forfeit to us, that you cause to be pre- 
pared and brought to the port of Portsmouth, before the 
first day of March now next ensuing, one ship of war of the 
burden of nine hundred tons, with three hundred and fifty 
men at the least, as well expert masters, as very able and 
skilful mariners ; one other ship of war of the burden of eight 
hundred tons, with two hundred and sixty men at the least, 
as well skilful masters, as very able and expert mariners: 
four other ships of war, every of them of the burden of five 
hundred tons, and every of them with two hundred men at 



354 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

the least, as well expert masters, as very able and skilful 
mariners: and one other ship of war of the burden of three 
hundred tons, with a hundred and fifty men, as well expert 
masters, as very able and skilful mariners : and also every 
of the said ships with, ordnance, as well greater as lesser, 
gunpowder, and spears and weapons, and other necessary 
arms sufficient for war, and with double tackling, and with 
victuals, until the said first of March, competent for so many 
men; and from that time, for twenty-six weeks, at your 
charges, as well in victuals as men's wages, and other things 
necessary for war, during that time, upon defence of the sea 
in our service, in command of the admiral of the sea, to whom 
we shall commit the custody of the sea, before the aforesaid 
first day of March, and as he, on our behalf, shall command 
them to continue; so that they may be there the same day, 
at the farthest, to go from thence with our ships, and the 
ships of other faithful subjects, for the safeguard of the sea, 
and defence of you and yours, and repulse and vanquishing 
of whomsoever busying themselves to molest or trouble upon 
the sea our merchants, and other subjects, and faithful people 
coming into our dominions for cause of merchandise, or from 
thence returning to their own countries. Also we have as- 
signed you, the aforesaid Mayor and Aldermen of the city 
aforesaid, or any thirteen, or more of you, within thirteen 
days after the receipt of this writ, to assess all men in the 
said city, and in the liberties, and members of the same, and 
the landholders in the same, not having a ship, or any part 
of the aforesaid ships, nor serving in the same, to contribute 
to the expenses, about the necessary provision of the pre- 
mises ; and to assess and lay upon the aforesaid city, with the 
liberties and members thereof, viz. upon every of them ac- 
cording to their estate and substances, and the portion as- 
sessed upon them; and to nominate and appoint collectors in 
this behalf. Also we have assigned you, the aforesaid 
Mayor, and also the Sheriffs of the city aforesaid, to levy 
the portions so as aforesaid assessed upon the aforesaid men 
and landholders, and every of them in the aforesaid city, with 
the liberties and members of the same, by distress and other 
due means ; and to commit to prison all those whom you shall 
find rebellious and contrary in the premises, there to remain 
until we shall give further order for their delivery. And 
moreover we command you, that about the premises you 
diligently attend, and do, and execute those things -with ef- 
fect, upon peril that shall fall thereon: but we will not, that 



THE PURITAN REVOLUTION 355 

under colour of our aforesaid command, more should be 
levied of the said men than shall suffice for the necessary- 
expenses of the premises; or that any who have had levied 
money for contribution to raise the aforesaid charges, should 
by him detain the same, or any part thereof; or should pre- 
sume, by any manner of colour, to appropriate the same to 
other uses; willing, that if more than may be sufficient shall 
be collected, the same may be paid out among the contrib- 
utors, for the rate of the part to them belonging. 

Witness myself, at Westminster the twentieth day 
of October, in the tenth year of our reign. 

(Rushworth's Collection, ed. cit., II, 257.) 

157. Ship-Money declared Illegal 

(17 Car. I, c. 14, 1641.) 

Statutes of the Realm 

The injustice of the practice of levying ship-money and the 
prostitution of justice to be an instrument of the king's will 
had never ceased to be a source of irritation and complaint. 
To this discontent Charles was indifferent, but the people 
watched and worked for the opportunity to right the wrong. 
In the Long Parliament the act given below was passed. It is 
important not only because it abolished one illegal tax and an- 
nulled the judgment of the Exchequer Court against Hampden 
as contrary to the laws and statutes of the realm, the right of 
property, the liberty of the subject, and the Petition of Right, 
but also because it completed the long line of statutes that de- 
prived the Crown of the power of arbitrary taxation. 

AN ACT FOR THE DECLARING UNLAWFUL AND VOID THE LATE 
PROCEEDINGS TOUCHING SHIP-MONEY^ AND FOR THE 
VACATING OF ALL RECORDS AND PROCESSES CONCERNING 
THE SAME 

Whereas divers writs of late time issued under the 
Great Seal of England, commonly called Ship-writs, for the 
charging of the Ports, Towns, Cities, Boroughs, and Counties 
of this realm respectively, to provide and furnish certain 
ships for His Majesty's service; and whereas upon the execu- 
tion of the same writs and returns of certioraries thereupon 
made, and the sending the name by Mittimus into the Court 
of Exchequer, process hath been thence made against sundry 
persons pretended to be charged by way of contribution for 
the making up of certain sums assessed for the providing 
of the said ships ; and in especial in Easter Term in the thir- 
teenth year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord the King that 



356 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

now is, a Writ of Scire facias was awarded out of the Court 
of Exchequer to the then Sheriff of Buckinghamshire against 
John Hampden, Esquire, to appear and show cause why he 
should not be charged with a certain sum so assessed upon 
him : upon whose appearance and demurrer to the proceedings 
therein the Barons of the Exchequer adjourned the same case 
into the Exchequer Cham.ber, where it was solemnly argued 
divers days ; and at length it was there agreed by the greater 
part of all the Justices of the Courts of King's Bench and 
Common Pleas, and of the Barons of the Exchequer there 
assembled, that the said John Hampden should be charged 
with the said sum so as aforesaid assessed on him : The main 
grounds and reasons of the said Justices and Barons, which 
so agreed, being, that when the good and safety of the king- 
dom in general is concerned, and the whole kingdom in 
danger, the King might by writ under the Great Seal of Eng- 
land command all the subjects of this his kingdom at their 
charge to provide and furnish such number of ships with 
men, victuals and munition, and for such time as the King 
should think fit for the defence and safeguard of the king- 
dom from such danger and peril, and that by law the King 
might compel the doing thereof in case of refusal or re- 
fractoriness, and that the King is the sole judge both of the 
danger, and when and how the same is to be prevented and 
avoided; according to which grounds and reasons all the 
Justices of the said Courts of King's Bench and Common 
Pleas, and the said Barons of the Exchequer, having been 
formerly consulted with by His Majesty's command, had set 
their hands to an extrajudicial opinion expressed to the same 
purpose, which opinion with their names thereunto was also 
by His Majesty's command enrolled in the Courts of Chan- 
cery, King's Bench, Common Pleas and Exchequer, and 
likewise entered among the remembrances of the Court of 
Star Chamber, and according to the said agreement of the 
said Justices and Barons, judgment was given by the Barons 
of the Exchequer that the said John Hampden should be 
charged with the said sum so assessed on him : and, whereas 
some other actions and process depend, and have depended 
in the said Court of Exchequer and in some other Courts, 
against other persons for the like kind of charge grounded 
upon the said writs commonly called Ship-writs; all which 
writs and proceedings as aforesaid were utterly against the 
law of the land: be it therefore declared and enacted by the 
King's Most Excellent Majesty and the Lords and the Com- 



THE PURITAN REVOLUTION 357 

mons in this present Parliament assembled, and by the au- 
thority of the same, that the said charge imposed upon the 
subject for the providing and furnishing of ships, commonly 
called Ship-money, and the said extrajudicial opinion of the 
said Justices and Barons and the said writs, and every of 
them, and the said agreement or opinion of the greater part 
of the said Justices and Barons, and the said judgment given 
against the said John Hampden, were and are contrary to 
and against the laws and statutes of this realm, the right of 
property, the liberty of the subjects, former resolutions in 
Parliament, and the Petition of Right made in the third year 
of the reign of His Majesty that now is. 

And it is further declared and enacted by the authority 
aforesaid, that all and every the particulars prayed or desired 
in the said Petition of Right shall from henceforth be put in 
execution accordingly, and shall be firmly and strictly holden 
and observed as in the same Petition they are prayed and ex- 
pressed ; and that all and every the records and remembrances 
of all and every the judgment, enrolments, entry, and pro- 
ceedings as aforesaid, and all and every the proceedings what- 
soever, upon or by pretext or colour of any of the said writs 
commonly called Ship-writs, and all and every the dependents 
on any of them, shall be deemed and adjudged, to all intents, 
constructions and purposes, to be utterly void and disannul- 
led; and that all and every the said judgment, enrolments, 
entries, proceedings and dependents of what kind soever, 
shall be vacated and cancelled in such manner and form as 
records use to be that are vacated. 

{Statutes of the Realm, V, it6.) 

158. Charles I. and Strafford 

(1641) 

Letters and Dispatches. 

The letter of Charles to Strafford, and that of the monarch 
to Parliament in behalf of the earl, with the subjoined account 
of the interview of the messenger with Charles, conclusively 
prove the weakness and timidity of the king. The letters are of 
the greatest interest as being unimpeachable evidence of the 
faithlessness of the master to his chosen servant, whom he had 
promised at all hazards to protect. 

CHARLES I. TO THE EARL OF STRAFFORD 

Strafford, 

The misfortune that is fallen upon you by the strange 
mistaking and conjuncture of these times, being such, that 



35^ SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

I must lay by the thought of employing you hereafter in my 
affairs; yet I cannot satisfy myself in honour or conscience 
without assuring you (now in the midst of your troubles), 
that upon the word of a king you shall not suffer in life, 
honour or fortune. This is but justice, and therefore a very 
mean reward from a master to so faithful and able a servant 
as you have showed yourself to be; yet it is as much as I 
conceive the present times will permit, though none shall 
hinder me from being 

Your constant, faithful friend, 

Charles R. 
Whitehall, April 23, 1641. 

(Earl of Strafford's Letters and Dispatches, Lond., 1739, II, p. 416.) 

158a. Charles I. to the House of Lords, in Behalf of the 
Earl of Strafford 

My lordS) 

I did yesterday satisfy the justice of the kingdom, by 
passing of the bill of attainder against the earl of Strafford; 
but mercy being as inherent and inseparable to a king as 
justice, I desire at this time in some measure, to show that 
likewise, by suffering that unfortunate man to fulfil the 
natural course of his life in a close imprisonment, yet so that, 
if ever he make the least offer to escape, or offer, directly or 
indirectly, to meddle with any sort of public business, es- 
pecially with me, either by message or letter, it shall cost 
him his life, without further process. 

This, if it may be done without the discontent of my people, 
will be an unspeakable contentment to me; to which end, 
as in the first place, I by this letter do earnestly desire your 
approbation; and to endear it the more, have chosen him to 
carry, that of all your house is most dear to me; so I de- 
sire, that by a conference you will endeavour to give the 
House of Commons contentment likewise ; assuring you, that 
the exercise is no more pleasing to me than to see both 
Houses of Parliament content, for my sake, that I should 
moderate the severity of the law in so important a case. I 
will not say, that your complying with me in this my pre- 
tended mercy, shall make me more willing, but certainly it 
will make me more cheerful in granting your just grievances ; 
but, if no less than his life can satisfy my people, I must say, 
fiat justitia. 



THE PURITAN REl/OLUTION 359 

Thus again earnestly recommending the consideration of 
my intentions to you, I rest 

Your unalterable and affectionate friend, 

Charles R. 
Whitehall, loth May, 1641. 

If he must die, it were charity to reprieve him till Satur- 
day. {Journals of the House of Lords, May ii, 1641.) 

158b. Parliament considers the King's Letter 

(The following record of the proceedings upon receipt of the 
above letter, taken from the Parliament Journals, throws further 
light upon the attitude of Charles.) 

This letter, all written with the king's own hand, the peers, 
this day received in Parliament, delivered by the hand of the 
prince. It was twice read in the House, and, after serious 
and sad consideration, the House resolved presently to send it 
by twelve of the peers, messengers to the king : " Humbly to 
signify, that neither of the intentions expressed in the letter 
could, with duty to them, or without evident danger to him- 
self, his dearest consort the queen, and all the young princes 
their children, possibly be advised." 

Which being delivered, and more expressions offered, 
his majesty suffered no more words to come from them, but, 
out of the fulness of his heart, to the observance of justice, 
and for contentment of his people, told them, that what he 
intended by his letter was with an " If," "if it may be done 
without discontentment to his people. If that cannot be, I 
say again the same that I wrote, Fiat Jnstitia; my other in- 
tention, proceeding out of charity, for a few days' respite, was 
upon certain information that his estate was so distracted, 
that it necessarily required some few days for settlement 
thereof." 

Whereunto the lords answered, " Their purpose was to be 
suitors to his majesty, for favour to be shown to his innocent 
children ; and, if he himself had made any provision for them, 
that the same might hold." 

This was well-liking to his majesty, who thereupon parted 
from the lords. At his majesty's parting, the peers offered 
up into his hands the letter itself, which he had sent; but he 
pleased to say : " My lords, what I have written to you I 
shall be content it be registered by you in your House; in it 
you see my mind. I know you will use it to my honour." 

(^/aurnals of the House of Lords, May 11, 1641.) 



36o SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

159. A Summary of Grievances 

(1642) 

Contemporary Tract 

In the reign of Charles I. the discontent which had been grow- 
ing since the time of Henry VIII. reached its culmination. The 
popular grievances found voice in many pamphlets and tracts ; 
and from this political literature we have chosen, as particularly 
suggestive, the following illustration : 

CERTAIN QUERIES OF THINGS DONE SINCE KING CHARLES 
HIS REIGN BEGAN 

1. When our good King James his death was by one of 
his physicians tendered to the King and Parliament, to be 
examined, why the Parliament was so soon dissolved? 

2. When in the first and succeeding Parliaments, they be- 
gan to fall upon Reformation in Kirk and State, why still 
were the Parliaments dissolved? 

3. Why, presently after the Petition of Right in England 
was signed, it was violated and nulled by imprisonment of 
sundry members of Parliament, which cost some of them 
their lives? 

4. Why at length came Parliaments to be so out of date 
and request, as that a proclamation was published inhibiting 
the least mention of ever having any more Parliaments in 
England ? 

5. W^hy against the Petition of Right was tonnage and 
poundage extorted? 

6. Why against the Petition of Right was ship-money 
levied ? 

7. Why against the Petition of Right was coat-and-con- 
duct money imposed? 

8. Why against the Petition of Right was such an in- 
finite number of monopolies to the drainage and exhatist- 
ing of the subjects, granted? 

9. Why was it attempted to make all England a forest, 
and so to make the people so many deer for Nimrods to 
hunt? 

10. Who is the author of all the evils and grievances in 
the kingdom, and so the great troubler of Israel, seeing so 
many malefactors, and delinquents, and instruments of 
cruelty, are authorized and protected as innocents? 

11. Who aided the French King with eight ships, by means 
whereof the Protestants in Rochelle were most miserably 
destroyed, and all the rest in France left to the mercy of 



THE PURITAN REl/QLUTION 361 

Papists, the more easily to exercise their massacres upon 
them ? 

12. How, or b}^ whom was it, that we poor harmless, yet 
much oppressed Scots, were proclaimed rebels, when we only 
fought for right and justice ? 

13. By whose authority, and for what end was it, that 
that more than heathenish book for sports, to profane the 
Lord's day, was published in every kirk in England? 

14. By whose countenance was it, that so many novations 
have taken place, so much idolatry and superstition hath 
overspread England, so many notorious papist books in 
English of late days printed with their high dedications, 
so much restaint of preaching, so grievous persecuting of 
preachers even unto blood and banishment, with all ways 
and crafts to root out the Gospel, and to let up popery every- 
where, and so to put the prince of the apostles (Peter, or the 
pope) in possession of that noble and long flourishing island? 

15. Who hath murdered so many innocents in Ireland by 
the long retarding of sending succors in due time, by means 
wherof so many thousands, and they Protestants, might 
have been preserved from such horrid and bloody butcheries ? 
Or how came it to pass (then when the plot among us in 
Scotland for murdering some of our prime nobles in the 
King's chamber, should have taken place) that the rebellion 
in Ireland began to break forth just about the same time? 
Such a sympathy and harmony (it seems) there was be- 
tween the two. 

16. What was the end of plotting, the coming up of the 
York army towards the City and Parliament? 

17. What w^as the end of the King's going to the Parlia- 
ment with his armed troops of furious Cavaliers, and their 
manner of carriage there? 

18. What was the end of turning out our faithful brother 
Sir William Belphore from being Lieutenant of the Tower, 
and placing in his room that desperate Cavalier Lunsford? 

19. By what authority was it, that the captains that were 
by the Parliament sent into Ireland to suppress the rebels 
there, came into England again to help the Malignant party 
against the Parliament? 

20. Whether the present taking of Portsmouth by the 
King, through the infamous perfidiousness of Goring, may 
not stand the Malignants in as good stead against the 
Parliament and people as Hull, considering that Portsmouth 
is nearer both to France and Spain? 



362 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

21. Whether the King's Commission of Array, though it 
may seem to have in general some countenance from the law, 
yet can possibly be imagined to have any law at this time, 
when the King stands out against his Parliaments, to "over- 
throw their militia, which is to no other end but to pre- 
serve both King and kingdom from imminent ruin ; consider- 
ing that no laws of the kingdom are destructive thereof, but 
preservative only? 

22. Whether the gentry of England, who now appear for 
the King against the Parliament, and so against the whole 
kingdom, be true bred Englishmen, and gentlemen, or no : 
or if true bred, whether they be not so far degenerate as to 
become enemies of God and their country, and with Esau to 
sell their birthright of laws and liberties for a mess of 
broth, and so to purchase to their house a perpetual slavery, 
by shedding the blood of their brethren, which they prize 
at so vile and ignoble a rate? 

23. Whether the displacing of the good old justices ail 
over England, and setting up of new, being of the Malignant 
party and enemies of the kingdom, do not hasten the ruin 
thereof, while they labor to root out the Gospel, and all good- 
ness, to destroy the Parliament and all good laws, and to 
countenance and maintain the most profane in the land,' who 
are ready everywhere to make war against the Gospel, and 
all the faithful preachers thereof? 

24. Whether the w^ounding of religion by reproachful 
names, as calling all the true professors thereof Roundheads 
and the like, be not a sleight of Jesuits to set the Protestants 
together by the ears, and their swords in one another's sides, 
that so they may all perish together? 

25. Whether it be not the wisdom of all true-hearted Eng- 
lish, and such as account it their honor to be called and be 
true Protestants, and namely such as are enemies to papistry, 
however they may differ in opinion in matter of religion, 
according to the different degrees of light in their souls, yet 
not to differ in their affections one to another, but to be fast 
united in the bond of charity, and combined in a firm resolu- 
tion for the rooting out of all papery, according to the late 
protestation, which no true Protestant, and such as it not 
papishly affected, nor a lover of Antichrist, and so a hater 
of his own soul and salvation, will ever refuse to take, pro- 
fess, and maintain. 

26. Why, notwithstanding so many protestations, and 
declarations to the contrary, are papish priests and Jesuits, 



THE PURITAN REVOLUTION 363 

after they are justly condemned, according to the law, for 
traitors, reprieved, time after time, so as no justice can be 
executed on them ? 

2y. Whether so many proclamations, declarations, protes- 
tations or remonstrances, as are published in the King's 
name, being so full of manifest and palpable falshoods, and 
shameless untruths, whereby the true meaning people are 
most pitifully abused, seduced, deluded and blindfolded, to 
the undoing of themselves and of their dear country, by 
betraying it and themselves into the hands of most wicked 
tyrants and cut-throats, and open enemies of both God and 
men, ought not to be laid upon the King himself, as the su- 
preme author of them, seeing he is pleased to be the owner 
and maintainer of them? And whether, in particular, it be 
not a meer mockery to send forth proclamations against 
papist-recusants, inhibiting and forbidding them upon pain 
of high displeasure to approach the King's person, court or 
army, whenas, for all this, most of them that be of the 
King's cavalry, and of his commanders, are papists, having 
nothing to excuse them from being recusants, but merely 
the pope's dispensation for going to kirk ; and all men know 
by "•experience, that Kirk-Papists are the worst and most 
dangerous ? 

28. Whether the setting-up of the King's standard against 
the Parliament and the best subjects of the kingdom be not 
an actual unkinging of him, as whereby he professeth an 
open hostility against that kingdom and State, w^hich at his 
coronation he swore to protect ; and as now, intending and 
endeavoring with might and main to come in as a conqueror, 
and so to set up a lawless and tyranical government over his 
land, and so to make good what he hath promised, and (in 
his letter to the Pope of Rome lately published in English, as 
aforesaid) solemnly protested and vowed. 

These queries and questions being seriously and impar- 
tially satisfied and foyled, it cannot but most evidently appear 
to every intelligent heart that will not be wilfully blind, what 
is the aim and end of the Malignant party now in England, 
from the head to the foot of them ; and how much it concerns 
them all who love their religion, laws, and liberties to look 
about them, and timely to endeavor (by God's assistance) to 
prevent their great and imminent dangers. 

FINIS 

Septem. 8, 1642. 

(P'rom King James, His Jndgine7ii of a King and of a Tyrant, 
Political tract, published Lond., 1642.} 



364 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

160. The Charge against the King 

Rush-worth'' s Collection 

The deeds which cost Charles I. his crown are summed up in 
the formal charge against him at his trial. Although many- 
grievances are omitted, and those presented are coloured by the 
spirit of a people in revolt, yet the arraignment places clearly 
before us the reasons for the action of that people. 

THE CHARGE AGAINST THE KING 

That the said Charles Stuart, being admitted King of Eng- 
land, and therein trusted with a limited power to govern by 
and according to the laws of the land, and not otherwise ; and 
by his trust, oath, and office, being obliged to use the power 
committed to him for the good and benefit of the people, and 
for the preservation of their rights and liberties ; yet, never- 
theless, out of a wicked design to erect and uphold in himself 
an unlimited and tyrannical power to rule according to his 
will, and to overthrow the rights and liberties of the people, 
yea, to take away and make void the foundations thereof, and 
of all redress and remedy of misgovernment, which by the 
fundamental constitutions of this kingdom were reserved on 
the people's behalf in the right and power of frequent and 
successive Parliaments, or national meetings in Council ; he, 
the said Charles Stuart, for accomplishment of such his de- 
signs, and for the protecting of himself and his adherents in 
his and their wicked practices, to the same ends hath traitor- 
ously and maliciously levied war against the present Parlia- 
ment, and the people therein represented, particularly upon 
or about the 30th day of June, in the year of our Lord 1642, 
at Beverley, in the County of York; and upon or about the 
30th day of July in the year aforesaid in the County of 
the City of York; and upon or about the 24th day of 
August in the same year, at the County of the Town of 
Nottingham, where and when he set up his standard of 
war; and also on or about the 23rd day of October in the 
same year, at Edgehill or Keynton-field, in the County of 
Warwick; and upon or about the 30th day of November in 
the same year, at Brentford, in the County of Middlesex; 
and upon or about the 30th day of August, in the year of our 
Lord 1643, at the Caversham Bridge, near Reading, in the 
County of Berks ; and upon or about the 30th day of October 
in the year last mentioned, at or upon the City of Gloucester ; 
and upon or about the 30th day of November in the year last 
mentioned, at Newbury, in the County of Berks ; and upon or 



THE PURITAN REVOLUTION iCs 



j'^:? 



about the 31st day of July, in the year of our Lord 1644, at 
Cropredy Bridge, in the County of Oxon ; and upon or about 
the 30th day of September in the last year mentioned, at Bod- 
min and other places near adjacent, in the County of Corn- 
wall ; and upon or about the 30th day of November in the year 
last mentioned, at Newbury aforesaid ; and upon or about the 
8th day of June, in the year of our Lord 1645, ^^ the Town of 
Leicester; and also upon the 14th day of the same month in 
the same year, at Naseby-field, in the County of Northamp- 
ton. At which several times and places, or most of them, and 
at many other places in this land, at several other times 
within the years aforementioned, and in the year of our Lord 
1646, he, the said Charles Stuart, hath caused and procured 
many thousands of the free people of this nation to be slain; 
and by divisions, parties, and insurrections within this land, 
by invasions from foreign parts, endeavoured and procured 
by him, and by many other evil ways and means, he, the said 
Charles Stuart, hath not only maintained and carried on the 
said war both by land and sea, during the years beforemen- 
tioned, but also hath renewed, or caused to be renewed, the 
said war against the Parliament and good people of this na- 
tion in this present year 1648, in the Counties of Kent, Essex, 
Surrey, Sussex, Middlesex, and many other Counties and 
places in England and Wales, and also by sea. And particu- 
larly he, the said Charles Stuart, hath for that purpose given 
commission to his son the Prince, and others, whereby, be- 
sides multitudes of other persons, many such as were by the 
Parliament entrusted and employed for the safety of the 
nation (being by him or his agents corrupted to the betraying 
of their trust, and revolting from the Parliament), have had 
entertainment and commission for the continuing and renew- 
ing of war and hostility against the said Parliament and 
people as aforesaid. By which cruel and unnatural wars, by 
him, the said Charles Stuart, levied, continued, and renewed 
as aforesaid, much innocent blood of the free people of this 
nation hath been spilt, many families have been undone, the 
public treasure wasted and exhausted, trade obstructed and 
miserably decayed, vast expense and damage to the nation 
incurred, and many parts of this land spoiled, some of them 
even to desolation. And for further prosecution of his said 
evil designs, he, the said Charles Stuart, doth still continue 
his commissions to the said Prince, and other rebels and 
revolters, both English and foreigners, and to the Earl of 
Ormond, and the Irish rebels and revolters associated with 



366 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

him ; from whom further invasions upon this land are threat- 
ened, upon the procurement, and on the behalf of the said 
Charles Stuart, 

AH which wicked designs, wars, and evil practices of him, 
the said Charles Stuart, have been, and are carried on for the 
advancement and upholding of a personal interest of will, 
power, and pretended prerogative to himself and his family, 
against the public interest, common right, liberty, justice, and 
peace of the people of this nation, by and from whom he was 
entrusted as aforesaid. 

By all which it appeareth that the said Charles Stuart hath 
been, and is the occasioner, author, and continuer of the said 
unnatural, cruel and bloody wars; and therein guilty of all 
the treasons, murders, rapines, burnings, spoils, desolations, 
damages and mischiefs to this nation, acted and committed 
in the said wars, or occasioned thereby. 

{Rushworth'' s Collection, ed. cit., VII, 1396.) 

161. Charles Refuses to Plead 

Rushworth'' s Collection. 

The Stuart theory of the Divine Right of Kings — a theory 
which placed the sovereign above the law (see Nos. 148, 149 and 
154) — is clearly set forth in the reasoning by which Charles I. 
explained his refusal to submit to the jurisdiction of the High 
Court of Justice. While denying the right of the court to try 
him, Charles attempted to vindicate his conduct. The document 
is an excellent demonstration of the characteristics of the Stuarts. 

Having already made my protestations, not only against 
the illegality of this pretended Court, but also, that no earthly 
power can justly call me (who am your king) in question as 
a delinquent, I would not any more open my mouth upon this 
occasion, more than to refer myself to what I have spoken, 
were I in this case alone concerned : but the duty I owe to 
God in the preservation of the true liberty of my people will 
not suffer me at this time to be silent : for, how can any free- 
born subject of England call life or anything he possesseth 
his own, if power without right daily make new, and abrogate 
the old fundamental laws of the land which I now take to be 
the present case ? Wherefore when I came hither, I expected 
that you would have endeavoured to have satisfied me con- 
cerning these grounds which hinder me to answer to your pre- 
tended impeachment. But since I see that nothing I can say 
will move you to it (though negatives are not so naturally 
proved as affirmatives) yet I will show you the reason why 
I am confident you cannot judge me, nor indeed the meanest 



THE PURITAN REVOLUTION 367 

man in England: for I will not (like you) without showing 
a reason, seek to impose a belief upon my subjects. 

There is no proceeding just against any man, but what is 
warranted, either by God's laws or the municipal laws of the 
country where he lives. Now I am most confident this day's 
proceeding cannot be warranted by God's laws ; for, on the 
contrary, the authority of obedience unto Kings is clearly 
warranted, and strictly commanded in both the Old and New 
Testament, which, if denied, I am ready instantly to prove. 

And for the question now in hand, there it is said, that 
'where the w^ord of a King is, there is power ; and who may 
say unto him, what dost thou ?' Eccles. viii. 4. Then for the 
law of this land, I am no less confident, that no learned 
lawyer w^ill affirm that an impeachment can lie against the 
King, they all going in his name : and one of their maxims is, 
that the King can do no wrong. Besides, the law upon which 
you ground your proceedings, must either be old or new: if 
old, show it; if new, tell what authority, warranted by the 
fundamental laws of the land, hath made it, and when. But 
how the House of Commons can erect a Court of Judicature, 
which was never one itself (as is well known to all lawyers) 
I leave to God and the world to judge. And it were full as 
strange, that they should pretend to make laws without King 
or Lords' House, to any that have heard speak of the laws of 
England. 

And admitting, but not granting, that the people of Eng- 
land's commission could grant your pretended power, I see 
nothing you can show for that; for certainly you never asked 
the question of the tenth man in the kingdom, and in this 
w^ay you manifestly wrong even the poorest ploughman, if 
you demand not his free consent; nor can you pretend any 
colour for this your pretended commission, without the con- 
sent at least of the major part of every man in England of 
whatsoever quality or condition, which I am sure you never 
went about to seek, so far are you from having it. Thus you 
see that I speak not for my own right alone, as I am your 
King, but also for the true liberty of all my subjects, which 
consists not in the power of government, but in living under 
such laws, such a government, as may give themselves the 
best assurance of their lives, and property of their goods ; 
nor in this must or do I forget the privileges of both Houses 
of Parliament, which this day's proceedings do not only 
violate, but likewise occasion the greatest breach of their 
public faith that (I believe) ever was heard of, with which I 



368 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

am far from charging the two Houses ; for all the pretended 
crimes laid against me bear date long before this Treaty at 
Newport, in which I having concluded as much as in me lay, 
and hopefully expecting the Houses' agreement thereunto, I 
was suddenly surprised and hurried from thence as a 
prisoner; upon which account I am against my will brought 
hither, where since I am come, I cannot but to my power 
defend the ancient laws and liberties of this kingdom, to- 
gether with my own just right. Then for anything I can see, 
the higher House is totally excluded ; and for the House of 
Commons, it is too well known that the major part of them 
are detained or deterred from sitting ; so as if I had no other, 
this were sufficient for me to protest against the lawfulness 
of your pretended Court. Besides all this, the peace of the 
kingdom is not the least in my thoughts ; and what hope of 
settlement is there, so long as power reigns without rule or 
law, changing the whole frame of that government under 
which this kingdom hath flourished for many hundred years? 
(nor will I say what will fall out in case this lawless, unjust 
proceeding against me do go on) and believe it, the Commons 
of England will not thank you for this change ; for they will 
remember how happy they have been of late years under the 
reigns of Queen Elizabeth, the King my father, and myself, 
until the beginning of these unhappy troubles, and will have 
cause to doubt, that they shall never be so happy under any 
new : and by this time it will be too sensibly evident, that the 
arms I took up were only to defend the fundamental laws of 
this kingdom against those who have supposed my power 
hath totally changed the ancient government. 

Thus, having showed 3^ou briefly the reasons why I cannot 
submit to your pretended authority, without violating the 
trust which I have from God for the welfare and liberty of 
my people, I expect from you either clear reasons to convince 
my judgment, showing me that I am in an error (and then 
truly I will ansv/er) or that you will withdraw your pro- 
ceedings. 

This I intended to speak in Westminster Hall, on Monday, 
January 22, but against reason was hindered to. show my 

reasons. {Rtish-worth Collection, ed. cit., VII, 1403.) 

162. The Sentence of the King 

RushwortJi' s Collection 

The sentence of the High Court of Justice affirms the limited 
power of the English monarclis, and sternly enumerates Charles' 
misuses of his royal prerogative. The judges reiterate the doc- 



THE PURITAN REVOLUTION 369 

trine which formed the basis of the Puritan Revolution, that a 
king can be guilty of treason and. and if thus guilty, can be 
punished by the nation from whom alone is derived the right to 
rule. 

Whereas the Commons of England assembled in Parlia- 
ment, have by their late Act intituled an Act of the Commons 
of England assembled in Parliament, for erecting an High 
Court of Justice for the trying and judging of Charles Stuart, 
King of England, authorised and constituted us an High 
Court of Justice for the trying and judging of the said 
Charles Stuart for the crimes and treasons in the said Act 
mentioned; by virtue whereof the said Charles Stuart hath 
been three several times convented before this High Court, 
where the first day, being Saturday, the 20th of January 
instant, in pursuance of the said Act, a charge of high treason 
and other high crimes was, in the behalf of the people of 
England, exhibited against him, and read openly unto him, 
wherein he was charged, that he, the said Charles Stuart, 
being admitted King of England, and therein trusted with a 
limited power to govern by, and according to the law of the 
land, and not otherwise ; and by his trust, oath, and office, 
being obliged to use the power committed to him for the good 
and benefit of the people, and for the preservation of their 
rights and liberties; yet, nevertheless, out of a wicked design 
to erect and uphold in himself an unlimited and tyrannical 
power to rule according to his will, and to overthrow the 
rights and liberties of the people, and to take away and make 
void the foundations thereof, and of all redress and remedy 
of misgovernment, which by the fundamental constitutions 
of this kingdom were reserved on the people's behalf in the 
right and power of frequent and successive Parliaments, or 
national meetings in Council ; he, the said Charles Stuart, for 
accomplishment of such his designs, and for the protecting 
of himself and his adherents in his and their wicked practices, 
to the same end hath traitorously and maliciously levied war 
against the present Parliament, and people therein repre- 
sented, as with the circumstances of time and place is in the 
said charge more particularly set forth ; and that he hath 
thereby caused and procured many thousands of the free 
people of this nation to be slain : and by divisions, parties, 
and insurrections within this land, by invasions from foreign 
parts, endeavoured and procured by him, and by many other 
evil ways and means, he, the said Charles Stuart, hath not 
only maintained and carried on the said war both by sea and 



370 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

land, but also hath renewed, or caused to be renewed, the said 
war against the Parliament and good people of this nation in 
this present year 1648, in several counties and places in this 
kingdom in the charge specified; and that he hath for that 
purpose given his commission to his son the Prince, and 
others, whereby, besides multitudes of other persons, many 
such as were by the Parliament entrusted and employed for 
the safety of this nation, being by him or his agents corrupted 
to the betraying of their trust, and revolting from the Par- 
liament, have had entertainment and commission for the 
continuing and renewing of the war and hostility against the 
said Parliament and people: and that by the said cruel and 
unnatural war so levied, continued and renewed, much in- 
nocent blood of the free people of this nation hath been 
spilt, many families undone, the public treasure wasted, trade 
obstructed and miserably decayed, vast expense and damage 
to the nation incurred, and many parts of the land spoiled, 
some of them even to desolation : and that he still continues 
his commission to his said son, and other rebels and revolters, 
both English and foreigners, and to the Earl of Ormond, and 
to the Irish rebels and revolters associated with him, from 
whom further invasions of this land are threatened by his 
procurement and of his behalf: and that all the said wicked 
designs, wars, and evil practices of him, the said Charles 
Stuart, were still carried on for the advancement and up- 
holding of the personal interest of will, power, and pretended 
prerogative to himself and his family, against the public 
interest, common right, liberty, justice, and peace of the 
people of this nation: and that he thereby hath been and is 
the occasioner, author, and continuer of the said unnatural, 
cruel, and bloody wars, and therein guilty of all the treasons, 
murders, rapines, burnings, spoils, desolations, damage, and 
mischief to this nation, acted and committed in the said wars, 
or occasioned thereby; whereupon the proceedings and judg- 
ment of this Court were prayed against him, as a tyrant, 
traitor, and murderer, and public enemy to the Common- 
wealth, as by the said charge more fully appeareth. To 
which charge, being read unto him as aforesaid, he, the said 
Charles Stuart, was required to give his answer; but he 
refused to do so : and upon Monday, the 22nd day of January 
instant, being again brought before this Court, and there 
required to answer directly to the said charge, he still refused 
so to do; whereupon his default and contumacy was entered; 
and the next day, being the third time brought before the 



THE PURITAN REVOLUTION 371 

Court, judgment was then prayed against him on the behalf 
of the people of England for his contumacy, and for the 
matters contained against him in the said charge, as taking 
the same for confessed, in regard of his refusing to answer 
thereto. Yet notwithstanding this Court (not willing to take 
advantage of his contempt) did once more require him to 
answer to the said charge; but he again refused so to do: 
upon which his several defaults, this Court might justly have 
proceeded to judgment against him, both for his contumacy 
and the matters of the charge, taking the same for confessed 
as aforesaid. 

Yet nevertheless this Court, for its own clearer informa- 
tion and further satisfaction, have thought fit to examine 
witnesses upon oath and take notice of other evidences 
touching the matters contained in the said charge, which 
accordingly they have done. 

Now therefore upon serious and mature deliberation of 
the premises, and consideration had of the notoriety of the 
matters of fact charged upon him as aforesaid, this Court is 
in judgment and conscience satisfied that he, the said Charles 
Stuart, is guilty of levying war against the said Parliament 
and people, and maintaining and continuing the same ; for 
which in the said charge he stands accused, and by the gen- 
eral course of his government, counsels, and practices, before 
and since this Parliament began (which have been and are 
notorious and public, and the effects whereof remain abund- 
antly upon record) this Court is fully satisfied in their judg- 
ments and consciences that he has been and is guilty of the 
wicked design and endeavours in the said charge set forth; 
and that the said war hath been levied, maintained, and con- 
tinued by him as aforesaid, in prosecution and for accom- 
plishment of the said designs; and that he hath been and is 
the occasioner, author, and continuer of the said unnatural, 
cruel, and bloody wars, and therein guilty of high treason, 
and of the murders, rapines, burnings, spoils, desolations, 
damage, and mischief to this nation acted and committed in 
the said war, and occasioned thereby. For all which treasons 
and crimes this Court doth adjudge that he, the said Charles 
Stuart, as a tyrant, traitor, murderer, and public enemy to the 
good people of this nation, shall be put to death by severing 
of his head from his body. 

{Rushworth Collection, ed. cit., VII, 1418.) 



372 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

163. The Death Warrant of the King 

Rushworth''s Collection 

The death warrant of Charles I., however pathetic in its tra- 
gedy of misspent opportunities and of a monarch dying at the 
hands of his subjects, yet bears in its words the triumphant 
vindication of the will of the people as the real force and 
majesty of all law. 

At the High Court of Justice for the trying and judging of 
Charles Sinart, King of England, Jan. 2p, 1648. 
Whereas Charles Stuart, King of England, is, and standeth 
convicted, attainted, and condemned of high treason, and 
other high crimes ; and sentence upon Saturday last was pro- 
nounced against him by this Court, to be put to death by the 
severing of his head from his body; of w^hich sentence, execu- 
tion yet remaineth to be done : These are therefore to will and 
require you to see the said sentence executed in the open 
street before Whitehall, upon the morrow, being the 30th 
day of this instant month of January, between the hours of 
10 in the morning and 5 in the afternoon of the same day, 
with full effect. And for so doing this shall be your suffi- 
cient warrant. And these are to require all officers, soldiers, 
and others, the good people of this nation of England, to be 
assisting unto you in this service. 

To Col. Francis Hacker, Col. Huncks, and Lieut.-Col. 
Phray, and to every of them. 

Given under our hands and seals. 
John Bradshaw. 
Thomas Grey. 
Oliver Cromwell, 
etc., etc. 

{Rushwortk Collection, ed. cit., VII, 1426.) 



CHAPTER XXII 

ENGLAND A COMMONWEALTH 



Formal Declaration of the Commonwealth 

Acts and Ordinances, Sc obeli 

The Acts abolishing the office of king and the House of 
Lords were followed by the statute which declared England to 
be a commonwealth. Yet these enactments, while they close the 
first period of the English monarchy, did not promote a real 
democracy. The despotism of the king was succeeded by the 
despotism of the Lord Protector, and the change of government 
was only in name. The oath of fidelity required to be taken, 
ran as follows : "I do declare and promise that I will be true 
and faithful to the Commonwealth of England, as it is now 
established, without a King or House of Lords." 

164. The Act Abolishing the Office of King 

(May 17, 1649) 

Acts arid Ordinances, Scohell 

Whereas Charles Stuart, late King of England, Ireland, 
and the territories and dominions thereunto belonging, hath 
by authority derived from Parliament been and is hereby 
declared to be justly condemned, adjudged to die, and put to 
death, for many treasons, murders, and other heinous offences 
committed by him, by which judgment he stood, and is hereby 
declared to be attained to high treasons, whereby his issue 
and posterity, and all other pretending title under him, are 
become incapable of the said Crowns, or of being King or 
Queen of the said kingdom or dominions, or either or any of 
them; be it therefore enacted and ordained, and it is enacted, 
ordained, and declared by this present Parliament, and by 
authority thereof, that all the people of England and Ireland, 
and the dominions and territories thereunto belonging, of 
what degree or condition soever, are discharged of all fealty, 
homage, and allegiance which is or shall be pretended to be 
due unto any of the issue and posterity of the said late King, 
or any claiming under him ; and that Charles Stuart, eldest 
son, and James called Dtike of York, second son, and all other 
the issue and posterity of him the said late King, and all and 

373 



374 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

every person and persons pretending title from, by, or under 
him, are and be disabled to hold or enjoy the said Crown of 
England and Ireland, and other the dominions thereunto be- 
longing, or any of them; or to have the name, title, style, or 
dignity of King or Queen of England and Ireland, Prince of 
Wales, or any of them; or to have and enjoy the power and 
dominion of the said kingdom and dominions, or any of them, 
or the honors, manors, lands, tenements, possessions, and 
hereditaments belonging or appertaining to the said Crown 
of England and Ireland, and other the dominions aforesaid, 
or to any of them ; or to the Principality of Wales, Duchy of 
Lancaster or Cornwall, or any or either of them, any law, 
statute, ordinance, usage, or custom to the contrary hereof in 
any wise notwithstanding. 

And whereas it is and hath been found by experience, that 
the office of a King in this nation and Ireland, and to have 
the power thereof in any single person, is unnecessary, bur- 
densome, and dangerous to the liberty, safety, and public 
interest of the people, and that for the most part, use hath 
been made of the regal power and prerogative to oppress and 
impoverish and enslave the subject; and that usually and 
naturally any one person in such power makes it his interest 
to incroach upon the just freedom and liberty of the people, 
and to promote the setting up of their own will and power 
above the laws, that so they might enslave these kingdoms 
to their own lust; be it therefore enacted and ordained by 
this present Parliament, and by authority of the same, that 
the office of a King in this nation shall not henceforth reside 
in or be exercised by any one single person ; and that no one 
person whatsoever shall or may have, or hold the office, style, 
dignity, power, or authority of King of the said kingdoms 
and dominions, or any of them, or of the Prince of Wales, 
any law, statute, usage, or custom to the contrary thereof in 
any wise notwithstanding. 

And it is hereby enacted, that if any person or persons shall 
endeavour to attempt by force of arms or otherwise, or be 
aiding, assisting, comforting, or abetting unto any person or 
persons that shall by any ways or means whatsoever en- 
deavour or attempt the reviving or setting up again of any 
pretended right of the said Charles, eldest son to the said late 
King, James called Duke of York, or of any other the issue 
and posterity of the said late King, or of any person or per- 
sons claiming under him or them, to the said regal office, 
style, dignity, or authority, or to be Prince of Wales; or the 



ENGLAND A COMMONWEALTH 375 

promoting of any one person whatsoever to the name, style, 
dignity, power, prerogative, or authority of King of England 
and Ireland, and dominions aforesaid, or any of them; that 
then every such offence shall be deemed and adjudged high 
treason, and the offenders therein, their counsellors, pro- 
curers, aiders and abettors, being convicted of the said of- 
fence, or any of them, shall be deemed and adjudged traitors 
against the Parliament and people of England, and shall 
suffer, lose, and forfeit, and have such like and the same 
pains, forfeitures, judgments, and execution as is used in case 
of high treason. 

And whereas by the abolition of the kingly office provided 
for in this Act, a most happy way is made for this nation (if 
God see it good) to return to its just and ancient right, of 
being governed by its own representatives or national meet- 
ings in council, from time to time chosen and entrusted for 
that purpose by the people, it is therefore resolved and de- 
clared by the Commons assembled in Parliament, that they 
Vvill put a period to the sitting of this present Parliament, and 
dissolve the same so soon as may possibly stand with the 
safety of the people that hath betrusted them, and wdth what 
is absolutely necessary for the preserving and upholding the 
Government now settled in the way of a Commonwealth ; and 
that they will carefully provide for the certain choosing, 
meeting, and sitting of the next and future representatives, 
with such other circumstances of freedom in choice and 
equality in distribution of members to be elected thereunto, 
as shall most conduce to the lasting freedom and good of this 
Commonwealth. 

And it is hereby further enacted and declared, notwith- 
standing any thing contained in this Act, no person or per- 
sons of what condition and quality soever, wdthin the Com- 
monw^ealth of England and Ireland, dominion of Wales, the 
islands of Guernsey and Jersey, and town of Berwick-upon- 
Tweed, shall be discharged from the obedience and subjec- 
tion which he and they owe to the Government of this nation, 
as it is now declared, but all and every of them shall in all 
things render and perform the same, as of right is due unto 
the supreme authority hereby declared to reside in this and 
the successive representatives of the people of this nation, 
and in them only. 

{A Collection of Acts and Ordinances of General Use, tic, ed. H. Scobell, 
Lond., 1698, II, 7.) 



376 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 



165. The House of Lords Abolished 

(March 19, 1649) 

The Commons of England assembled in Parliament, find- 
ing by too long experience that the House of Lords is useless 
and dangerous to the people of England to be continued, have 
thought fit to ordain and enact, and be it ordained and en- 
acted by this present Parliament, and by the authority of the 
same, that from henceforth the House of Lords in Parliament 
shall be and is hereby wholly abolished and taken away ; and 
that the Lords shall not from henceforth meet or sit in the 
said House called the Lords' House, or in any other house 
or place whatsoever, as a House of Lords ; nor shall sit, vote, 
advise, adjudge, or determine of any matter or thing what- 
soever, as a House of Lords in Parliament : nevertheless it is 
hereby declared, that neither such Lords as have demeaned 
themselves with honour, courage, and fidelity to the Com- 
monwealth, nor their posterities who shall continue so, shall 
be excluded from the public councils of the nation, but shall 
be admitted thereunto, and have their free vote in Parlia- 
ment, if they shall be thereunto elected, as other persons of 
interest elected and qualified thereunto ought to have. 

And be it further ordained and enacted by the authority 
aforesaid, that no Peer of this land, not being elected, quali- 
fied and sitting in Parliament as aforesaid, shall claim, have, 
or make use of any privilege of Parliament, either in relation 
to his person, quality, or estate, any law, usage, or custom to 
the contrary notwithstanding. 

{Scobell Collection, ed. cited, II, 8.) 



166. England declared to be a Commonwealth 

(May 19, 1649) 

Be it declared and enacted by this present Parliament, and 
by the authority of the same, that the people of England, and 
of all the dominions and territories thereunto belonging, are 
and shall be, and are hereby constituted, made, established, 
and confirmed, to be a Commonwealth and Free State, and 
shall from henceforth be governed as a Commonwealth and 
Free State by the supreme authority of this nation, the repre- 
sentatives of the people in Parliament, and by such as they 
shall appoint and constitute as officers and ministers under 
them for the good of the people, and that without any King 
or House of Lords. 

{Scobell Collection, ed. cited, II, 30.) 



ENGLAND A COMMONWEALTH Z17 

167. The Instrument of Government 

Parliamentary History 

In the stormy period of the Puritan Revokition, three great 
models for the constitutional government of the realm were 
evolved. These were, the Agreement of the People (Jan. 15, 
1648-9), the Instrument of Government (Dec. 16, 1653), and the 
Humble Petition and Advice (May 25, 1657), with its amend- 
ments (June 26, 1657), In these documents is foreshadowed 
much of the constitutional and political development of Great 
Britain and of the United States of America. Although these 
constitutional plans failed of immediate effect, this was not be- 
cause of their lack of merit. The circumstances of the times 
were such as to prevent the realization of the political ideals 
therein set forth. The models themselves do not entirely escape 
the influence of the personal equation of the environment which 
made them possible. The Instrument of Government, however, 
is least affected by the fears of the people and the ambitions of 
their leaders. It has therefore been selected as a type of the 
highest development of constitutional theory that had yet been 
reached in English history. 

The government of the Commonwealth of England, Scot- 
land, and Ireland, and the dominions thereunto belonging. 

I. That the supreme legislative authority of the Common- 
wealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and the dominions 
thereunto belonging, shall be and reside in one person, and 
the people assembled in Parliament : the style of which person 
shall be the Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of Eng- 
land, Scotland, and Ireland. 

II. That the exercise of the chief magistracy and the ad- 
ministration of the government over the said countries and 
dominions, and the people thereof, shall be in the Lord Pro- 
tector, assisted with a council, the number whereof shall not 
exceed twenty-one, nor be less than thirteen. 

III. That all writs, processes, commissions, patents, grants, 
and other things, which now run in the name and style of the 
keepers of the liberty of England by authority of Parliament, 
shall run in the name and style of the Lord Protector, from 
whom, for the future, shall be derived all magistracy and 
honours in these three nations; and have the power of par- 
dons (except in case of murders and treason) and benefit of 
all forfeitures for the public use ; and shall govern the said 
countries and dominions in all things by the advice of the 
council, and according to these presents and the laws. 

IV. That the Lord Protector, the Parliament sitting, shall 
dispose and order the militia and forces, both by sea and land, 
for the peace and good of the three nations, by consent of 



378 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

Parliament ; and that the Lord Protector, with the advice and 
consent of the major part of the comicil, shall dispose and 
order the militia for the ends aforesaid in the intervals of 
Parliament. 

V. That the Lord Protector, by the advice aforesaid, shall 
direct in all things concerning the keeping aod holding of a 
good correspondency with foreign kings, princes, and states ; 
and also, with the consent of the major part of the council, 
have the power of war and peace. 

VI. That the laws shall not be altered, suspended, abro- 
gated, or repealed, nor any new law made, nor any tax, 
charge, or imposition laid upon the people, but by common 
consent in Parliament, save only as is expressed in the thir- 
tieth article. 

VIL That there shall be a Parliament summoned to meet 
at Westminster upon the third day of September, 1654, and 
that successively a Parliament shall be summoned once in 
every third year, to be accounted from the dissolution of the 
present Parliament. 

VIIL That neither the Parliament to be next summoned, 
nor any successive Parliaments, shall, during the time of five 
months, to be accounted from the day of their first meeting, 
be adjourned, prorogued, or dissolved, without their own 
consent. 

IX. That as well the next as all other successive Parlia- 
ments shall be summoned and elected in manner hereafter 
expressed; that is to say, the persons to be chosen within 
England, Wales, the Isles of Jersey, Guernsey, and the town 
of Berwick-upon-Tweed, to sit and serve in Parliament, shall 
be, and not exceed, the number of four hundred. The per- 
sons to be chosen within Scotland, to sit and serve in Parlia- 
ment, shall be, and not exceed, the number of thirty ; and the 
persons to be chosen to sit in Parliament for Ireland shall be, 
and not exceed, the number of thirty. 

X. That the persons to be elected to sit in Parliament from 
time to time, for the several counties of England, Wales, the 
Isles of Jersey and Guernsey, and the town of Berwick-upon- 
Tweed, and all places within the same respectively, shall be 
according to the proportions and numbers hereafter ex- 
pressed : that is to say, [Here follows the apportionment.] 

The distribution of the persons to be chosen for Scotland 
and Ireland, and the several counties, cities, and places 
therein, shall be according to such proportions and number 
as shall be agreed upon and declared by the Lord Protector 



ENGLAND A COMMONWEALTH 379 

and the major part of the council, before the sending forth 
writs of summons for the next Parliament. 

XI. That the summons to Parliament shall be by writ under 
the Great Seal of England, directed to the sheriffs of the 
several and respective counties, with such alteration as may 
suit with the present government, to be made by the Lord 
Protector and his council, which the Chancellor, Keeper, or 
Commissioners of the Great Seal shall seal, issue, and send 
abroad by warrant from the Lord Protector. If the Lord Pro- 
tector shall not give warrant for issuing of writs of summons 
for the next Parliament, before the first of June, 1654, or for 
the Triennial Parliaments, before the first day of August in 
every third year, to be accounted as aforesaid ; that then the 
Chancellor, Keeper, or Commissioners of the Great Seal for 
the time being, shall, without any warrant or direction, within 
seven days after the said first day of June, 1654, seal, issue, 
and send abroad writs of summons (changing therein what 
is to be changed as aforesaid) to the several and respective 
Sheriffs of England, Scotland, and Ireland, for summoning 
the Parliament to meet at Westminster, the third day of Sep- 
tember next; and shall likewise, within seven days after the 
said first day of August, in every third year, to be accounted 
from the dissolution of the precedent Parliament, seal, issue, 
and send forth abroad several writs of summons (changing 
therein what is to be changed) as aforesaid, for summoning 
the Parliament to meet at Westminster the sixth of Novem- 
ber in that third year. That the said several and respective 
Sheriffs shall, within ten days after the receipt of such writ 
as aforesaid, cause the same to be proclaimed and published 
in every market-town within his county upon the market- 
days thereof, between twelve and three of the clock ; and shall 
then also publish and declare the certain day of the week and 
month, for choosing members to serve in Parliament for the 
body of the said county, according to the tenor of the said 
writ, which shall be upon Wednesday five weeks after the 
date of the writ ; and shall likewise declare the place where 
the election shall be made : for which purpose he shall appoint 
the most convenient place for the whole county to meet in ; 
and shall send precepts for elections to be made in all and 
every city, town, borough, or place within his county, where 
elections are to be made by virtue of these presents, to the 
Mayor, Sheriff, or other head officer of such city, town, 
borough, or place, within three days after the receipt of such 
writ and writs; which the said Mayors, Sheriffs, and officers 



o 



80 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 



respectively are to make publication of, and of the certain day 
for such elections to be made in the said city, town, or place 
aforesaid, and to cause elections to be made accordingly. 

XII. That at the day and place of elections, the Sheriff of 
each county, and the said Mayors, Sheriffs, Bailiffs, and 
other head officers within their cities, towns, boroughs, and 
places respectively, shall take view of the said elections, and 
shall make return into the chancery within twenty days after 
the said elections, of the persons elected by the greater num- 
ber of electors, under their hands and seals, between him on 
the one part, and the electors on the other part ; wherein shall 
be contained, that the persons elected shall not have power to 
alter the government as it is hereby settled in one single 
person and a Parliament. 

XIII. That the Sheriff, who shall wittingly and willingly 
make any false return, or neglect his duty, shall incur the 
penalty of 2000 marks of lawful English money; the one 
moiety to the Lord Protector, and the other moiety to such 
person as will sue for the same. 

XIV. That all and every person and persons, who have 
aided, advised, assisted, or abetted in any war against the 
Parliament, since the first day of January, 1641 (unless they 
have been since in the service of the Parliament, and given 
signal testimony of their good affection thereunto) shall be 
disabled and incapable to be elected, or to give any vote in 
the election of any members to serve in the next Parliament, 
or in the three succeeding Triennial Parliaments. 

XV. That all such, who have advised, assisted, or abetted 
the rebellion of Ireland, shall be disabled and incapable for 
ever to be elected, or give any vote in the election of any 
member to serve in Parliament; as also all such who do or 
shall profess the Roman Catholic religion. 

XVI. That all votes and elections given or made contrary, 
or not according to these qualifications, shall be null and 
void; and if any person, who is hereby made incapable, shall 
give his vote for election of members to serve in Parliament, 
such person shall lose and forfeit one full year's value of his 
real estate, and one full third part of his personal estate ; one 
moiety thereof to the Lord Protector, and the other moiety 
to him or them who shall sue for the same. 

XVII. That the persons w^ho shall be elected to serve in 
Parliament, shall be such (and no other than such) as are 
persons of known integrity, fearing God, and of good conver- 
sation, and being of the age of twenty-one years. 



I 



ENGLAND A COMMONWEALTH 381 

XVIII. That all and every person and persons seised or 
possessed to his own use, of any estate, real or personal, to 
the value of £200, and not within the aforesaid exceptions, 
shall be capable to elect members to serve in Parliament for 
counties. 

XIX. That the Chancellor, Keeper, or Commissioners of 
the Great Seal, shall be sworn before they enter into their 
offices, truly and faithfully to issue forth, and send abroad, 
writs of summons to Parliament, at the times and in the 
manner before expressed : and in case of neglect or failure 
to issue and send abroad writs accordingly, he or they shall 
for every such offence be guilty of high treason, and suffer 
the pains and penalties thereof. 

XX. That in case writs be not issued out, as is before ex- 
pressed, but that there be a neglect therein, fifteen days 
after the time wherein the same ought to be issued out by the 
Chancellor, Keeper, or Commissioners of the Great Seal ; 
that then the Parliament shall, as often as such failure shall 
happen, assemble and be held at Westminster, in the usual 
place, at the times prefixed, in manner and by the means 
hereafter expressed; that is to say, that the sheriffs of the 
several and respective counties, sheriffdoms, cities, boroughs, 
and places aforesaid within England, Wales, Scotland, and 
Ireland, the Chancellor, Masters, and Scholars of the Uni- 
versities of Oxford and Cambridge, and the Mayor and 
Bailiffs of the borough of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and other 
places aforesaid respectively, shall at the several courts and 
places to be appointed as aforesaid, within thirty days after 
the said fifteen days, cause such members to be chosen for 
their said several and respective counties, sheriffdoms, uni- 
versities, cities, boroughs, and places aforesaid, by such per- 
sons, and in such manner, as if several and respective writs 
of summons to Parliament under the Great Seal had issued 
and been awarded according to the tenor aforesaid: that if 
the sheriff, or other persons authorised, shall neglect his or 
their duty herein, that all and every such sheriff and person 
authorised as aforesaid, so neglecting his or their duty, 
shall, for every such offence, be guilty of high treason, and 
shall suffer the pains and penalties thereof. 

XXI. That the clerk, called the clerk of the Common- 
wealth in Chancery for the time being, and all others, who 
shall afterwards execute that office, to whom the returns 
shall be made, shall for the next Parliament, and the two 
succeeding triennial Parliaments, the next day after such re- 



382 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

turn, certify the names of the several persons so returned, 
and of the places for which he and they were chosen respect- 
ively, unto the Council; who shall peruse the said returns, 
and examine whether the persons so elected and returned be 
such as is agreeable to the qualifications, and not disabled to 
be elected: and that every person and persons being so duly 
elected, and being approved of by the major part of the 
Council to be persons not disabled, but qualified as afore- 
said, shall be esteemed a member of Parliament, and be ad- 
mitted to sit in Parliament, and not otherwise. 

XXII. That the persons so chosen and assembled in man- 
ner aforesaid, or any sixty of them, shall be, and be deemed 
the Parliament of England, Scotland, and Ireland; and the 
supreme legislative power to be and reside in the Lord Pro- 
tector and such Parliament, in manner herein expressed. 

XXIII. That the Lord Protector, with the advice of the 
major part of the Council, shall at any other time than is 
before expressed, when the necessities of the State shall 
require it, summon Parliaments in manner before expressed, 
which shall not be adjourned, prorogued, or dissolved with- 
out their own consent, during the first three months of their 
sitting. And in case of future war with any foreign State, 
a Parliament shall be forthwith summoned for their advice 
concerning the same. 

XXIV. That all Bills agreed unto by the Parliament, shall 
be presented to the Lord Protector for his consent; and in 
case he shall not give his consent thereto within twenty days 
after they shall be presented to him, or give satisfaction to 
the Parliament within the time limited, that then, upon de- 
claration of the Parliament that the Lord Protector hath not 
consented nor given satisfaction, such Bills shall pass into 
and become laws, although he shall not give his consent 
thereunto; provided such Bills contain nothing in them 
contrary to the matters contained in these presents. 

XXV. That Henry Lawrence, Esq., [The names of fifteen 
members follow], or any seven of them, shall be a Council 
for the purposes expressed in this writing; and upon the 
death or other removal of any of them, the Parliament shall 
nominate six persons of ability,, integrity, and fearing God, 
for every one that is dead or removed ; out of which the 
major part of the Council shall elect two, and present them 
to the Lord Protector, of which he shall elect one; and in 
case the Parliament shall not nominate within twenty days 
after notice given unto them thereof, the major part of the 



ENGLAND A COMMONWEALTH 383 

Council shall nominate three as aforesaid to the Lord Pro- 
tector, who out of them shall supply the vacancy; and until 
this choice be made, the remaining part of the Council shall 
execute as fully in all things, as if their number were full. 
And in case of corruption, or other miscarriage in any of the 
Council in their trust, the Parliament shall appoint seven of 
their number, and the Council six, who, together with the 
Lord Chancellor, Lord Keeper, or Commissioners of the 
Great Seal for the time being, shall have power to hear and 
determine such corruption and miscarriage, and to award 
and inflict punishment, as the nature of the offence shall 
deserve, which punishment shall not be pardoned or remitted 
by the Lord Protector; and, in the interval of Parliaments, 
the miajor part of the Council, with the consent of the Lord 
Protector, may, for corruption or other miscarriage as afore- 
said, suspend any of their number from the exercise of their 
trust, if they shall find it just, until the matter shall be heard 
and examined as aforesaid. 

XXVL That the Lord Protector and the major part of 
the Council aforesaid may, at any time before the meeting 
of the next Parliament, add to the Council such persons as 
they shall think fit, provided the number of the Council be 
not made thereby to exceed twenty-one, and the quorum to 
be proportioned accordingly by the Lord Protector and the 
major part of the Council. 

XXVIL That a constant yearly revenue shall be raised, 
settled, and established for maintaining of 10,000 horse and 
dragoons, and 20,000 foot, in England, Scotland and Ireland, 
for the defence and security thereof, and also for a con- 
venient number of ships for guarding of the seas ; besides 
£200,000 per annum for defraying the other necessary 
charges of administration of justice, and other expenses of 
the Government, which revenue shall be raised by the 
customs, and such other ways and means as shall be agreed 
upon by the Lord Protector and the Council, and shall not 
be taken away or dimished, nor the way agreed upon for 
raising the same altered, but by the consent of the Lord Pro- 
tector and the Parliament. 

XXVIIL That the said yearly revenue shall be paid into 
the public treasury, and shall be issued out for the uses 
aforesaid. 

XXIX. That in case there shall not be cause hereafter to 
keep up so great a defence both at land or sea, but that there 
be an abatement made thereof, the money which will be 



384 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

saved thereby shall remain in bank for the public service, 
and not be employed to any other use but by consent of 
Parliament, or, in the intervals of Parliament, by the Lord 
Protector and major part of the Council. 

XXX. That the raising of money for defraying the charge 
of the present extraordinary forces, both at sea and land, in 
respect of the present wars, shall be by consent of Parlia- 
ment, and not otherwise : save only that the Lord Protector, 
with the consent of the major part of the Council, for pre- 
venting the disorders and dangers which might otherwise fall 
out both by sea and land, shall have power, until the meeting 
of the first Parliament, to raise money for the purposes 
aforesaid; and also to make laws and ordinances for the 
peace and welfare of these nations where it shall be necess- 
ary, which shall be binding and in force, until order shall be 
taken in Parliament concerning the same, 

XXXL That the lands, tenements, rents, royalties, juris- 
dictions and hereditaments which remain yet unsold or 
undisposed of, by Act or Ordinance of Parliament, belonging 
to the Commonwealth (except the forests and chases, and the 
honours and manors belonging to the same; the lands of the 
rebels in Ireland, lying in the four counties of Dublin, Cork, 
Kildare, and Carlow; the lands forfeited by the people of 
Scotland in the late wars, and also the lands of Papists and 
delinquents in England who have not yet compounded), shall 
be vested in the Lord Protector, to hold, to him and his suc- 
cessors. Lords Protectors of these nations, and shall not be 
alienated but by consent in Parliament. And all debts, fines, 
issues, amercements, penalties and profits, certain and casual, 
due to the Keepers of the liberties of England by authority 
of Parliament, shall be due to the Lord Protector, and be 
payable into his public receipt, and shall be recovered and 
prosecuted in his name. 

XXX That the office of Lord Protector over these nations 
shall be elective and not hereditary; and upon the death of 
the Lord Protector, another fit person shall be forthwith 
elected to succeed him in the Government; which election 
shall be by the Council, who, immediately upon the death of 
the Lord Protector, shall assemble in the Chamber where 
they usually sit in Council ; and, having given notice to all 
their members of the cause of their assembling, shall, being 
thirteen at least present, proceed to the election ; and, before 
they depart the said Chamber, shall elect a fit person to 
succeed in the Government, and forthwith cause proclama- 



ENGLAND A COMMONWEALTH 385 

tion thereof to be made in all the three nations as shall be 
requisite; and the person that they, or the major part of 
them, shall elect as aforesaid, shall be, and shall be taken to 
be, Lord Protector over these nations of England, Scotland 
and Ireland, and the dominions thereto belonging. Provided 
that none of the children of the late King, nor any of his line 
or family, be elected to be Lord Protector or other Chief 
Magistrate over these nations, or any the dominions thereto 
belonging. And until the aforesaid election be past, the 
Council shall take care of the Government, and administer in 
all things as fully as the Lord Protector, or the Lord Pro- 
tector and Council are enabled to do. 

XXXIIL That Oliver Cromwell, Captain-General of the 
forces of England, Scotland and Ireland, shall be, and is 
hereby declared to be. Lord Protector of the Commonwealth 
of England, Scotland and Ireland, and the dominions thereto 
belonging, for his life. 

XXXIV. That the Chancellor, Keeper or Commissioners 
of the Great Seal, the Treasurer, Admiral, Chief Governors 
of Ireland and Scotland, and the Chief Justices of both the 
Benches, shall be chosen by the approbation of Parliament; 
and, in the intervals of Parliament, by the approbation of the 
major part of the Council, to be afterwards approved by the 
Parliament. 

XXXV. That the Christian religion, as contained in the 
Scriptures, be held forth and recommended as the public 
profession of these nations; and that, as soon as may be, a 
provision, less subject to scruple and contention, and more 
certain than the present, be made for the encouragement and 
maintenance of able and painful teachers, for the instructing 
the people, and for discovery and confutation of error, here- 
by, and' whatever is contrary to sound doctrine ; and until 
such provision be made, the present maintenance shall not be 
taken away or impeached. 

XXXVI. That to the public profession held forth none 
shall be compelled by penalties or otherwise ; but that en- 
deavours be used to win them by sound doctrine and the 
example of a good conversation. 

XXXVII. That such as profess faith in God by Jesus 
Christ (though differing in judgment from the doctrine, wor- 
ship or discipline publicly held forth) shall not be restrained 
from, but shall be protected in, the profession of the faith 
and exercise of their religion; so as they abuse not this 
liberty to the civil injury of others and to the actual dis- 



386 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

turbance of the public peace on their parts : provided this 
liberty be not extended to Popery or Prelacy, nor 'to such as, 
under the profession of Christ, hold foith and practise licen- 
tiousness. 

XXXVIII. That all laws, statutes and ordinances, and 
clauses in any law, statute or ordinance to the contrary of 
the aforesaid liberty, shall be esteemed as null and void. 

XXXIX. That the Acts and Ordinances of Parliament 
made for the sale or other disposition of the lands, rents and 
hereditaments of the late King, Queen, and Prince, of Arch- 
bishops and Bishops, etc.. Deans and Chapters, the lands of 
delinquents and forest-lands, or any of them, or of any other 
lands, tenements, rents and hereditaments belonging to the 
Commonwealth, shall nowise be impeached or made invalid, 
but shall remain good and firm ; and that the securities given 
by Act and Ordinance of Parliament for any sum or sums of 
money, by any of the said lands, the excise, or any other 
public revenue; and also the securities given by the public 
faith of the nation, and the engagement of the public faith 
for satisfaction of debts and damages, shall remain firm and 
good, and not be made void and invalid upon any pretence 
whatsoever. 

XL. That the Articles given to or made with the enemy, 
and afterwards confirmed by Parliament, shall be performed 
and made good to the persons concerned therein; and that 
such appeal as were depending in the last Parliament for 
relief concerning bills of sale of delinquents' estates, may be 
heard and determined the next Parliament, any thing in this 
writing or otherwise to the contrary notwithstanding. 

XLL That every successive Lord Protector over these 
nations shall take and subscribe a solemn oath, in the 
presence of the Council, and such others as they shall call to 
them, that he will seek the peace, quiet and welfare of these 
nations, cause law and justice to be equally administered; 
and that he will not violate or infringe the matters and 
things contained in this writing, and in all other things will, 
to his power and to the best of his understanding, govern 
these nations according to the laws, statutes and customs 
thereof. 

XLII. That each person of the Council shall, before they 
enter upon their trust, take and subscribe an oath, that they 
will be true and faithful in their trust, according to the best 
of their knowledge; and that in the election of every suc- 
cessive Lord Protector they shall proceed therein impartially, 



ENGLAND A COMMONWEALTH 387 

and do nothing therein for any promise, fear, favour or 
reward. 

{Parlia7netitary History, ed. cit., XX, 248.) 

168. Cromwell disciplines his First Parliament 

Goddard 

The first Parliament of the Commonwealth met in September, 
1654. Its members seemed to be resolved to take from Crom- 
well much of the power which he considered necessary to the 
office of Lord Protector. These members desired to make 
absolute the authority of Parliament. Some of them were 
anxious to set aside the Instrument of Government ; others had 
no love for the Commonwealth or its leaders. So great was the 
popular dissatisfaction, so imminent was the danger that the 
royalists might regain power, that Cromwell resolved upon a 
desperate remedy. He proposed to the members of Parliament 
a form of oath of allegiance, binding them to himself and his 
form of government and pledging them not to alter that form. 
All members who refused to subscribe to this oath he turned out 
of the House. An account of this high-handed, though — from 
the Puritan point of view — justifiable proceeding, is given in 
the following selection. 

Tuesday 12. [1654.] This morning news was brought to 
the Herald's Office, where I lay, with my brother Bish, that 
the Parliament House was dissolved, and that, for certain, 
the Council of State and Council of War, had sat together all 
the Sabbath-day before, and had then contrived this dissolu- 
tion. Notwithstanding, I was resolved to go to Westminster, 
to satisfy myself of the truth, and to take my share of what 
I should see or learn there. 

Going by water to Westminster, I was told that the Par- 
liament doors were locked up and guarded with soldiers, and 
the barges were to attend the Protector to the Painted Cham- 
ber. As I went, I saw two barges at the Privy Stairs. 
Being come to the Hall, I was confirmed in what I had 
heard. Nevertheless, I did purpose not to take things merely 
upon trust, but would receive an actual repulse, to confirm 
my faith. 

Accordingly, I attempted up the Parliament-stairs, but 
there was a guard of soldiers, who told me there was no 
passage that way; t-kat the House was locked up, and com- 
mand given to give no admittance to any. That, if I were a 
member, I might go into the Painted Chamber, where the 
Protector would presently be. 

The mace was taken away by Conmiissary-general Whal- 
ley. The Speaker and all the members were walking up and 
down the Hall, the Court of Requests, and the Painted Cham- 



388 SOURCE-BOOK OP ENGLISH HISTORY 

ber, expecting the Protector's coming; the passages there, 
being likewise guarded with soldiers. 

The Protector coming about ten of the clock, attended 
with his officers, life-guard, and halberds, he took his place 
upon the scaffold, where it was before, and made a speech 
of about an hour and a-half long. Wherein he did not for- 
bear to tell us, that he did expect and hope for better fruit 
and effect of our last meeting in that place than he had 
yet found; that he perceived there was a necessity upon him 
to magnify, as he called it, his office. He told us a large 
series of the providences of God and the suffrages of the 
people, which were so many witnesses, evidences, and seals, 
of his calling to the government, and which did cause him to 
put a greater value upon his title so derived, than upon the 
broken hereditary title of any prince whatsoever. That 
having received his office from God and from the people, 
he was resolved never to part with it, until God and the 
people should take it from him. 

That it could not be expected, when he told us before, that 
we were a free Parliament, that he meant it otherwise free 
than as it should act under the government. That those 
pitiful forwardnesses and peevishnesses, which were abroad, 
he valued no more than the motes in the sun. But that the 
Parliament should now dispute his office under whose au- 
thority we were then met, was a great astonishment to him. 

That he was unwilling to break privileges; but necessity 
had no law. 

He told us, he had ordered the Parliament doors to be 
locked up and guarded, and had appointed an officer to take 
subscriptions to a recognition of his authority; which being 
done might give us an entrance. Which being said, we were 
dismissed about eleven o'clock. 

His party, that is, courtiers and officers of the army, and 
some others, presently subscribed. Before they adjourned, 
which was about twelve of the clock, there were about one 
hundred subscriptions; which being entered, they sent for 
the Speaker, who came, subscribed, entered, and adjourned 
until two of the clock. 

In the mean time, the rest of the members consulted one 
another's judgments. I went to see what it was that we were 
to subscribe unto. It was written in a long piece of parch- 
ment in these words, or to that effect, viz. : 

"I do hereby freely promise and engage, that I will be true 
and faithful to the Lord Protector and the Commonwealth 



ENGLAND A COMMONWEALTH 389 

of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and that according to the 
tenor of the indentures whereby I am returned to serve in 
this present Parliament, I will not propose, or consent to alter 
the government as it is settled in a sole person and the Parlia- 
ment/' 

Our Norfolk members did not presently subscribe, saving 
only Mr. Frere, who instantly subscribed it. The rest of our 
members did most of us dine together, purposely to consult 
what was fitted to be done in so great an exigent, in order 
to the discharge of our trust. And, truly, the subscription 
was, in effect, no more than what we were restrained unto by 
our Indentures, and the thing would be done without us, and 
we had fairly contended for it : we had not given the ques- 
tion, but it was forced from us, and we were told that plainly 
it must be so. For these and several other considerations 
and reasons, which we thought ought to prevail with men 
preferring the peace of our countries and the safety of our 
people immediately concerned in this affair, before passions 
and humours, we thought fit rather to give way to the present 
necessity, and to comply with it by submitting than refusing. 
Accordingly we did subscribe, all except Mr. Woodhouse, 
Mr. Hobart, and Mr. Church. And although w^e condemn the 
breach of privilege as much as any, yet we doubt not but to 
acquit ourselves to God, and to our country, in so doing, 
rather than to put the nation into another combustion and 
confusion. 

After we had subscribed, we went into the House, and 
after some expressions of tenderness and respects to our 
fellow members without, we adjourned until Thursday morn- 
ing ; the next day, Wednesday, being the Fast. 

{An Account of the Parlianietit o/ 1654 front the fournal of Giiibou Goddard, 
in Diary of Thomas Burton, ed. G. T. Ruth, Lond., 1828, vol. I, p. 32.) 

169. Cromwell and the Kingship 

Keiinett 

That Cromwell desired to be king seems, in this day, fully 
established. When matters had been so arranged that the crown 
seemed within his grasp, and while the voice of the army had 
not yet been raised to warn him that his acceptance of the king- 
ship would lead to his overthrow, Cromwell took counsel with 
his intimates upon the wisdom of the step. The following ac- 
count of his interview with Whitlock is most characteristic. 

Upon this juncture Cromwell advises with Commissioner 
Whitlock how to maintain all things in order and obedience; 
"What if a man should take upon him to be King?" Whit- 



39<^ SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

lock, "1 think that remedy would be worse than the disease." 
Cromwell, ''Why do you think so?" Whitlock, "As to your 
own person the title of king would be of no advantage, be- 
cause you have the full kingly power in you already con- 
cerning the militia, as you are general. As to the nomina- 
tion of civil officers, those whom you think fittest are sel- 
dom refused : and altho' you have no negative vote in the 
passing of laws, yet what you dislike will not easily be 
caried; and the taxes are already settled and in your power 
to dispose the money raised. And as to foreign affairs, tho' 
the ceremonial application be made to the Parliament, yet the 
expectation of good or bad success in it is from your Ex- 
cellency; and particular solicitations of foreign ministers 
are made to you only. So that I apprehend indeed less envy 
and danger and pomp, but not less power and real op- 
portunities of doing good in your being general, than would 
be if you had assumed the title of king." Cromwell went 
on to argue, that whoever was actually king by election, the 
acts done by him were as lawful and justifiable as if done 
by a king who had the crown by inheritance; and that by 
an act of Parliament in Henry VII's time, it was safer for the 
people to act under a king (let his title be what it will) than 
under any other power. 

Whitlock agreed to the legality, but questioned the ex- 
pediency of it ; and being asked what danger he apprehended, 
answered thus, "The danger I think would be this : one of the 
main points of controversy between us and our adversaries 
is whether the government of this nation shall be established 
in monarchy or in free state or a commonwealth ; and most 
of our friends have engaged with us upon the hopes of having 
the government settled in a free state; and to effect that, 
have undergone all their hazards and difficulties. They 
being persuaded (tho' I think much mistaken) that under 
the government of a commonwealth they shall enjoy more 
liberty and right, both as to their spiritual and civil con- 
cernments than they shall under monarchy, the pressures and 
dislikes whereof are so fresh in their memories and suffer- 
ings. Now if your Excellency shall take upon you the title 
of king, this state of your cause will be thereby wholly deter- 
mined, and monarchy established in your person, and the 
question will be no more, whether our government shall be by 
a monarch or by a free state, but whether Cromwell or Stuart 
shall be our king or monarch? And that question wherein 
before so great parties of the nation were engaged, and 



ENGLAND A COMMONWEALTH 391 

which was universal, will by this means become in effect a 
private controversy only. Before it was national, what kind 
of government we should have? Now it will become parti- 
cular, who shall be governour ? Whether of the family of he 
Stuarts or of the family of the Cromwells? Thus the state 
of our controversy being totally changed, all those who 
were for a commonwealth (and they are a very great and 
considerable party) having their hopes therein frustrate, will 
desert you ; your hands will be weakened, your interests 
straightened, and your cause in apparent danger to be 
ruined," Cromwell confessed he spoke reason, and desired to 
know if he could find any other expedient. Whitlock, after 
suggesting the danger he was in from his own officers and 
from the Parliament, who were plotting to bring him down, 
or to clip his wings, proceeded thus : "Pardon me. Sir, in the 
next place, a little to consider the condition of the King of 
Scots. This prince being now by your valour, and the suc- 
cess which God has given to the Parliament, and to the army 
under your command, reduced to a very low condition, both 
he and all about him cannot but be very inclinable to hearken 
to any terms, whereby their last hopes may be revived of his 
being restored to the crown, and they to their fortunes and 
native country. By a private treaty with him, you may 
secure yourself and your friends, and their fortunes : you 
may make yourself and prosterity as great and permanent, 
to all human probability, as ever any subject was, and provide 
for your friends. You may put such limits to monarchical 
power, as will secure our spiritual and civil liberties : and 
you may secure the cause in which we are all engaged. And 
this may be effectually done, by having the power of the 
militia continued in yourself, and whom you shall agree upon 
after you." 

Cromwell adjourned the discourse to some farther time, 
and went off with a countenance and carriage of displeasure. 
And Whitlock says, "That Cromwell's carriage toward him 
from that time was altered, and his advising with him not so 
frequent and intimate as before ; and, that it was not long 
after, he found an occasion, by an honourable employment, to 
send him out of the way, that he might be no obstacle or 
impediment to his ambitious designs." For certainly Crom- 
well in his thoughts and intentions, was for bringing the 
crown upon his own head; and it was a great providence 
that his friends would not permit him to have his own way. 
However, to carry it as far as it would bear, he and his 



392 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

officers were always complaining of the grievance of the 
Long Parliament, and were zealous and loud in recommend- 
ing to the people the common pretences of right and justice, 
and public liberty, to put a period to their session; and if 
they would not shortly do it themselves, the army and the 
people must do it for them. 

(Compleat History of England, ed. W. Kennett, 2nd ed., Lond., 1719, III, 204.) 

170. Richard Cromwell becomes Lord Protector 

Kennet 

At the death of Oliver Cromwell, his son Richard was called 
to office. The following selection gives the proclamation made 
at the installation, and also gives a very valuable account of 
the character of the new ruler. 

Whereas it has pleased the most wise God in his provi- 
dence to take out of this world the most serene and renowned 
Oliver, late Ld. Protector of his Commonwealth: And his 
highness having in his life-time, according to the Humble 
Petition and Advice declared and appointed the most noble 
and illustrious the Lord Richard, eldest son of his late High- 
ness, to succeed him in the government of these nations, we 
therefore of the Privy Council, together with the Lord- 
Mayor, aldermen and citizens of London, the officers of the 
army, and numbers of other principal gentlemen, do now 
hereby with one full voice and consent of tongue and heart, 
publish and declare the said noble and illustrious Lord 
Richard to be rightful Protector of this Commonwealth of 
England, Scotland and Ireland, and the dominions and ter- 
ritories thereto belonging: To whom we do acknowledge 
all fidelity and constant obedience, according to law, and the 
said Humble Petition and Advice, with all hearty and humble 
affections beseeching the Lord, by whom princes rule, to 
bless him with long life, and these nations with peace and 
happiness under his government. 

(signed) Richard Chiverton, Mayor. 
Henry Laurence, President. 
And T.'j others. 
God save his Highness Richard Lord Protector. 

Then the Council proceeded to give the oath of govern- 
ment to the new Protector, who published a proclamation for 
all officers to continue in their places ; and the master of the 
ceremonies was ordered to acquaint all foreign minister^ 



ENGLAND A COMMONtVEALTH 393 

with the death of the late Protector, and the succession of 
his son Richard; which soon brought over many new ambas- 
sadors and envoys from the neighbour princes and States, 
all admitted with due ceremony to a solemn audience given 
by his Highness, to condole the death of his father, and to 
congratulate his succession to the government; while infinite 
adresses came up from all parts of the three kingdoms, to 
compliment the new Protector with mighty professions of 
public joy and satisfaction, and with solemn resolutions and 
promises of adhering to him against all his enemies. And 
indeed the general exultation of the people and armies was 
so very great upon this new succession, that it must be im- 
puted more to the common sense of deliverance from one 
tyrant, than to their hopes or expectations from this other 
Protector; who was raised to the government without any 
respect or good opinion in the minds of the people or the 
soldiers. For he had been neither a military man nor a 
statesman ; rather an honest country gentleman, bred to 
privacy and sports, and willing to serve his neighbours, and 
even the cavaliers, by the little interest he had in his father's 
court. His own father seemed to have the least affection 
and lowest opinion of this son, among all his other children: 
He never trusted him in any command, nor employed him in 
any true business : He made him indeed Chancellor of Ox- 
ford, and put him at the top of the other House in Parliament : 
but this was rather for the honour of his family, than for the 
love of his son. Pie never let him into any secrets of policy 
nor any arts of war; and therefore it is plain, he never de- 
signed him for his successor, because he never trained him 
up to it. 

(Kennett, ed. cit., Ill, p. 228.) 



CHAPTER XXIII 

THE RESTORATION 



171. The Declaration of Breda 

(April 4, 1660) 

Parlia-mentary History 

In the Declaration of Breda Charles II. set forth the principles 
on which he promised to rule England. The difference between 
these promises and their fulfilment presents an interesting study- 
on the theory and practice of kingcraft. 

Charles R. 

Charles, by the grace of God, King of England, Scotland, 
France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, etc. To all our 
loving subjects, of what degree or quality soever, greeting. 

If the general distraction and confusion which is spread 
over the whole kingdom doth not awaken all men to a desire 
and longing that those wounds which have so many years 
together been kept bleeding, may be bound up, all we can say 
will be to no purpose; however, after this long silence, we 
have thought it our duty to declare how much we desire to 
contribute thereunto; and that as we can never give over 
the hope, in good time, to obtain the possession of that right 
which God and nature hath made our due, so we do make 
it our daily suit to the Divine Providence, that He will, in 
compassion to us and our subjects after so long misery and 
sufferings, remit and put us into a quiet and peaceable pos- 
session of that our right, with as little blood and damage to 
our people as is possible; nor do we desire more to enjoy 
what is ours, than that all our subjects may enjoy what by 
law is theirs, by a full and entire administration of justice 
throughout the land, and by extending our mercy where it 
is wanted and deserved. 

And to the end that the fear of punishment may not 
engage any, conscious to themselves of what is past, to a 
perseverance in guilt for the future, by opposing the quiet 

394 



THE RESTORATION 395 

and happiness of their country, in the restoration of King, 
Peers and people to their just, ancient and fundamental 
rights, we do, by these presents, declare, that we do grant 
a free and general pardon, which we are ready, upon demand, 
to pass under our Great Seal of England, to all our subjects, 
of what degree or quality soever, who, within forty days after 
the publishing hereof,shall lay hold upon this our grace and 
favour, and shall, by any public act, declare their doing so, 
and that they return to the loyalty and obedience of good 
subjects; excepting only such persons as shall hereafter be 
excepted by Parliament, those only to be excepted. Let all 
our subjects, how faulty soever, rely upon the word of a 
King, solemnly given by this present declaration, that no 
crime whatsoever, committed against us or our royal father 
before the publication of this, shall ever rise in judgment, or 
be brought in question, against any of them, to the least 
endamagement of them, either in their lives, liberties or 
estates, or (as far forth as lies in our power) so much as to 
the prejudice of their reputations, by any reproach or term 
of distinction from the rest of our best subjects ; we desiring 
and ordaining that henceforth all notes of discord, separation 
and difference of parties be utterly abolished among all our 
subjects, whom we invite and conjure to a perfect union 
among themselves, under our protection, for the re-settlement 
of our just rights and theirs in a free Parliament, by which, 
upon the word of a King, we will be advised. 

And because the passion and uncharitableness of the 
times have produced several opinions in religion, by which 
men are engaged in parties and animosities against each 
other (which, when they shall hereafter unite in a freedom 
of conversation, will be composed or better understood), we 
do declare a liberty to tender consciences, and that no man 
shall be disquieted or called in question for differences of 
opinion in matter of religion, which do not disturb the peace 
of the kingdom ; and that we shall be ready to consent to such 
an Act of Parliament, as, upon mature deliberation, shall be 
offered to us, for the full granting that indulgence. 

And because in the continued distractions of so many years, 
and so many and great revolutions, many grants and pur- 
chases of estates have been made to and by many officers, 
soldiers and others, who are now possessed of the same, and 
who may be liable to actions at law upon several titles, we 
are likewise willing that all such differences, and all things 
relating to such grants, sales and purchases, shall be deter- 



396 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

mined in Parliament, which can best provide for the satis- 
faction of all men who are concerned. 

And we do further declare, that we will be ready to consent 
to any Act or Acts of Parliament to the purposes aforesaid, 
and for the full satisfaction of all arrears due to the officers 
and soldiers in the army under the command of General 
Monk; and that they shall be received into our service upon 
as good pay and conditions as they now enjoy. 

Given under our Sign Manual and Privy Signet, 
at our Court at Breda, this V^^ day of April, 
1660, in the twelfth year of our reign. 

{Parliamentary History, ed. cit., XXII, 238.) 

172. Reception of the Declaration of Breda by Parliament 

Parliamentary Intelligencer 

Parliament's enthusiastic, if not servile, reception of the com- 
munication from Charles II. is in strong contrast to the actions 
of that body in the preceding decade. It may be questioned 
whether either body faithfully expressed the W\\\ of the majority 
of the people; but it was evident that the (commonwealth had 
proved a failure and that there was in the popular mind a strong 
loyalty to the House of Stuart. A king was the only means of 
reconciling the warring factions and Parliament recognized at 
once its necessity and opportunity. 

RECEPTION OF THE DECLARATION OF BREDA BY THE LORDS 

(May I, 1660) 

Whitehall, Tuesday. — The House of Lords being informed 
that Sir John Grenville attended at the door with a letter 
from his Majesty, the earl of Manchester, speaker to the 
House of Lords, went down near the clock to receive it of 
him. The letter with a declaration enclosed was read in the 
House, and thanks ordered to be given to Sir John Grenville 
for bringing the gracious letter. 

The House resolved that they do own and declare that 
according to the ancient and fundamental laws of this king- 
dom, the government is and ought to be by king, lords, and 
commons. That the lords having a deep sense of the miser- 
ies and distractions that the kingdom hath been involved in 
since the violent attempts to dissolve the established govern- 
ment, do desire that some way may be considered how to 
make up these breaches; and to obtain the king's return 
again to his people. 

{Parliamentary Intelligencer , no. 19, pp. 291, 292.) 



THE RESTORATION 397 

BY THE COMMONS 

Resolved — nemine contradicente. That a committee be 
appointed to prepare an answer to his Majesty's letter, ex- 
pressing the great and joyful sense of House of his gracious 
offers and their humble and hearty thanks to his Majesty 
for the same, and with professions of their loyalty and 
duty to his Majesty, and that this House will give a speedy 
answer to his Majesty's gracious proposals. 
*A committee was appointed accordingly. 

Resolved — ncuiinc contradicente. 

That the sum of £50,000 
be presented to his Majesty by the House. 

Tuesday afternoon. — Resolved that this House doth agree 
with the lords and do own and declare, that according to the 
ancient and fundamental laws of this kingdom, the govern- 
ment is and ought to be by king, lords, and commons. 

(^Parliamentary Intelligencer, no. 19, p. 293.) 

173. The Commons thank Sir John Grenville for Bringing 
the Declaration 

(May 3, 1660) 

Mercurius Publicus 

The words of the Speaker of the House of Commons merely- 
voiced the thought of the nation. Beneath the exuberance of 
language lies the true spirit of loj^alty. Throughout the period 
of the Commonwealth, the majority of Englishmen had clung to 
the hope that the king would yet come to his own. 

THE COMMONS THANK SIR JOHN GRENVILLE FOR BRINGING 
THE DECLARATION 

Thursday. — The House being informed that Sir John 
Grenville was at the door, he was called in to receive the 
thanks of the House, which Mr. Speaker delivered, as fol- 
loweth : 

Sir John Grenville, — I need not tell you with what grate- 
ful and thankful hearts the Commons now assembled in Par- 
liament have received his Majesty's gracious letter, res ipsa 
loquitur: you yourself have been aiiricidaris ct ocularis testis 
de rei veritate. Our bells and our bonfires have already be- 
gun the proclamation of his Majesty's goodness and of our 
joys. We have told the people that our king, the glory of 
England, is coming home again, and they have resounded it 
back again in our ears that they are ready and their hearts 
are open to receive him; both Parliament and people have 



398 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

cried aloud in their prayers to the King of Kings, Long live 
king Charles the second! 

{Mercurius Publictcs, no. 19, p. 292.) 

174. Resolutions of Parliament urging the King to Return 

(May 8 and 9, 1660) 

Tuesday. — At the House of Commons. Resolved, That 
the king's Majesty be desired to make a speedy return to his 
Parliament, and to the exercise of his kingly office. 

Wednesday. — Ordered by the Lords and Commons that 
general Montague do receive the commands of the king's 
Majesty for the disposal of the fleet in order to his Majesty's 
return. 

The Lords agreed to the vote for his Majesty's return to 
the Parliament and kingly office 

{Mercuri7(s Publicus, No. 19, p. 304.) 

175. The Beginning of Cabinet Government 

(1672) 

Historian'' s Guide, Crook 

The beginnings of Cabinet Government in England are to be 
found in the history of the secret council, — popularly called the 
Cabal, from the initials of the surnames of its members. — The 
selections next following will serve to awaken interest in the 
development of the Cabinet. 

SHAFTESBURY^ AS HEAD OF CABAL^ TAKES GREAT SEAL 

Nov. 4, 1672. 
Sir Orlando Bridgeman, late Lord Keeper, having re- 
signed by reason of his great age and a continual indis- 
position of body, the Great Seal went into the hands of his 
Majesty. 

Nov. 17. 
His Majesty was pleased to deliver the keeping of .it to the 
Right Honourable Anthony Ashley Cooper, earl of Shaftes- 
bury, with the title of Lord Chancellor of England. 

(Crook, W., Historian'' s Guide, Lond. 1679.) 

176. Opinion of French Court concerning Members of Cabal 

Secret History of Whitehall 

The ministers of this Court are not only the most in- 
quisitive persons in the world into the affairs of other 
Courts, but even in the persons who manage them; whose 
natures, dispositions, religion, natural and acquired abilities, 
as well as respective infirmities, they endeavour to sift OUt 



THE RESTORATION 399 

to the quick so that they may use them or shun them as they 
find occasion : and for this reason it is that they make some 
remarks upon them in their minutes, as well as upon the 
affairs transacted by them. And therefore since the five 
persons who made up the Cabal in England . . , , and who 
your lordship may remember were the dukes of Buckingham 
and Lauderdale, the earls of Shaftesbury and Arlington, and 
the Lord Treasurer Clifford, were very distinguishable for 
the stations they filled, the offices they held and the parts 
each of them acted in the government ; I find this character 
given of them : for the duke of Buckingham, as he was the 
king's favourite, so he really deserved to be so, as being 
very capable to be a minister of state if his application to 
business had been answerable to his talents ; if his mind, 
which was furnished with excellent endowments, had not 
been distracted by libertinism, which was in him to an ex- 
treme degree ; and by a love to his pleasures, which made one 
of those persons in the world that was fittest for great and 
solid things vain and frivolous. Of the duke of Lauderdale 
there is little or nothing said but that he is a great and quaint 
politician, and no question but he has merited that character 
at their hand. Of my lord Clifford they are as profuse in 
their praises, as I doubt they have been too of their money ; 
saying he was a person who wanted nothing but a theatre 
where virtue and reason had been much more in use than 
it was in his country in the age wherein he lived, for to be 
superior to and overtop the rest. My lord of Arlington they 
make to be a person of meaner capacity, and a more limited 
genius than any of the five, but say his experiences supply 
the defect, and have acquired him especially a very great 
knowledge of foreign affairs. Last of all, they bring in 
Anthony Ashley-Cooper, the renowned earl of Shaftesbury ; 
of whom they say he was by far the fittest person of any of 
them to manage a great enterprise, and so was as the soul 
to all the rest, being endued with a vast capacity, clear judg- 
ment, bold nature, and subtle wit, equally firm and constant 
in all he undertook ; a constant friend but an implacable 
enemy ; with many other expressions, such as his not being 
terrified either with the greatness or the multitude of crimes 
he judges necessary for his own preservation, or the destruc- 
tion of others much to his lordship's dishonour, which is a 
clear argument he was not for their interest, and for which 
he is much beholden to them. 

{Letter in the Secret Hist, of Whitehall, Lond., 1717, vol I., pp. 78, 79.) 



400 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

177. The Habeas Corpus Act 

(31 Car. II, c. ii, 1679) 

StaUites of the Realm 

In the 39th and 40th clauses of the Magna Charta "are clearly 
contained the Habeas Corpus and the Trial by Jury, the most 
effectual securities against oppression which the wisdom of man 
has hitherto been able to devise." For centuries before, as for 
centuries after, the Great Charter, the abuses of judicial_ processes 
by the Crown led to complaint and discontent, which finally cul- 
minated in open rebellion. Again and again the kings broke their 
promises to abide by the law and to measure out that even-handed 
justice which the great documents of English history sought to 
secure for the people. At last, in 1679, the great Habeas Corpus 
Act was passed. It had radical defects, but these were remedied 
by the Bill of Rights (No. 190) and by an Act for More Effec- 
tually Securing the Liberty of the Subject (1812). The Habeas 
Corpus Act remains the basis of all legislation on its subject 
throughout English-speaking states. 

An Act for the better securing the Liberty of the Subject, 
and for Prevention of Imprisonments beyond the Seas. 

Whereas great delays have been used by sheriffs, gaolers, 
and other officers, to whose custody any of the king's sub- 
jects have been committed for criminal or supposed criminal 
matters, in making returns of writs of Habeas Corpus to 
them directed, by standing out an Alias and Pluries Habeas 
Corpus, and sometimes more, and by other shifts to avoid 
their yielding obedience to such writs, contrary to their duty 
and the known laws of the land, whereby many of the king's 
subjects have been and hereafter may be long detained in 
prison, in such cases where by law they are bailable, to their 
great charges and vexation : 

II. For the prevention whereof, and the more speedy relief 
of all persons imprisoned for any such criminal or supposed 
criminal matters; be it enacted by the King's most excellent 
Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords 
Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Par- 
liament assembled, and by the authority thereof, that when- 
soever any person or persons shall bring any Habeas Corpus 
directed unto any sheriff or sheriffs, gaoler, minister, or 
other person whatsoever, for any person in his or their cus- 
tody, and the said writ shall be served upon the said officer, 
or left at the gaol or prison with any of the under-officers, 
under-keepers or deputy of the said officers or keepers, that 
the said officer or officers, his or their under-officers, under- 
keepers or deputies, shall within three days after the service 



THE RESTORATION 401 

thereof as aforesaid (unless the commitment aforesaid were 
for treason or felony, plainly and specially expressed in the 
warrant of commitment) upon payment or tender of the 
charges of bringing the said prisoner, to be ascertained by 
the judge or court that awarded the same, and endorsed 
upon the said writ, not exceeding twelve pence per mile, and 
upon security given by his own bond to pay the charges of 
carrying back the prisoner, if he shall be remanded by the 
court or judge to which he shall be brought according to the 
true intent of this present act, and that he will not make any 
escape by the way, make return of such writ ; and bring or 
cause to be brought the body of the party so committed or 
restrained, unto or before the Lord Chancellor, or Lord 
Keeper of the great seal of England for the time being, or 
the judges or barons of the said court from whence the said 
writ shall issue, or unto and before such other person or 
persons before whom the said writ is made returnable, ac- 
cording to the command therof ; and shall then likewise cer- 
tify the true causes of his detainer or imprisonment, unless 
the commitment of the said party be in any place beyond the 
distance of twenty miles from the place or placej^where such 
court or person is or shall be residing; and if beyond the 
distance of twenty miles, and not above one hundred miles, 
then within the space of ten days, and if beyond the distance 
of one hundred miles, then within the space of twenty days, 
after such delivery aforesaid, and not longer. 

IIL And to the intent that no sheriff, gaoler or other of- 
ficer may pretend ignorance of the import of any such writ ; 
be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, that all such writs 
shall he marked in this manner, per sfatutuui triccsiuio primo 
Caroli sccundi regis, and shall be signed by the person that 
awards the same ; and if any person or persons shall be or 
stand committed or detained as aforesaid, for any crime, un- 
less for felony or treason plainly expressed in the warrant of 
commitment, in the vacation-time, and out of term, it shall 
and may be lawful to and for the person or persons so com- 
mitted or detained (other than persons convict or in execu- 
tion by legal process) or any one on his or their behalf, to 
appeal or complain to the Lord Chancellor or Lord Keeper, 
or any one of his Majesty's justices, either of the one bench 
or of the other, or the barons of the exchequer of the degree 
of the coif; and the said Lord Chancellor, Lord Keeper, jus- 
tices or barons or any of them, upon view of the copy or 
copies of the warrant or warrants of commitment and de- 



402 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY _^ , 

tainer, or otherwise upon oath made that such copy or copies 
were denied to be given by such person or persons in whose 
custody the prisoner or prisoners is or are detained, are here- 
by authorized, and required, upon request made in writing by 
such person or persons or any on his, her or their behalf, 
attested and subscribed by two witnesses who were present at 
the delivery of the same, to award and grant an Habeas Cor- 
pus under the seal of such court whereof he shall then be one 
of the judges, to be directed to the officer or officers in whose 
custody the party so committed or detained shall be, return- 
able immediate before the said Lord Chancellor or Lord 
Keeper, or such justice, baron or any other justice or baron 
of the degree of the coif of any of the said courts ; and upon 
service thereof as aforesaid, the officer or officers, his or 
their under-officer or under-officers, under-keeper or under- 
keepers, or their deputy, in whose custody the party is so 
committed or detained, shall within the times respectively 
before limited, bring such prisoner or prisoners before the 
said Lord Chancellor or Lord Keeper, or such justices, barons 
or one of them, before whom the said writ is made returnable, 
and in case of his absence before any of them, with the return 
of such writ, and the true causes of th.e commitment and 
detainer ; and thereupon within two days after the party shall 
be brought before them, the said Lord Chancellor or Lord 
Keeper, or such justice or baron before whom the prisoner 
shall be brought as aforesaid, shall discharge the said prisoner 
from his imprisonment, taking his or their recognizance, with 
one or more surety or sureties, in any sum according to their 
discretions, having regard to the quality of the prisoner and 
nature of the offence, for his or their appearance in the court 
of king's bench the term following, or at the next assizes, 
sessions, or general gaol-delivery of and for such county, 
city, or place where the commitment was, or where the 
offence was committed, or in such other court where the said 
offence is properly cognizable, as the case shall require, and 
then shall certify the said writ with the return thereof, and 
the said recognizance or recognizances into the said court 
where such appearance is to be made; unless it shall appear 
unto the said Lord Chancellor or Lord Keeper, or justice or 
justices, or baron or barons, that the party so committed is 
detained upon a legal process, order or warrant, out of some 
court that hath jurisdiction of criminal matters, or by some 
warrant signed and sealed with the hand and seal of any of 
the said justices or barons, or some justice or justices of the 



THE RESTORATION 403 

peace, for such matters or offences for the which by the law 
the prisoner is not bailable. 

IV. Provided always, and be it enacted, that if any person 
shall have wilfully neglected by the space of two whole terms 
after his imprisonment, to pray a Habeas Corpus for his en- 
largement, such person so wilfully neglecting shall not have 
any Habeas Corpus to be granted in vacation-time, in pur- 
suance of this act. 

V. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that 
if any officer or officers, his or their under-officer or under- 
of f icers, under-keeper or under-keepers, or deputy, shall neglect 
or refuse to make the returns aforesaid, or to bring the body 
or bodies of the prisoner or prisoners according to the com- 
mand of the said writ, within the respective times aforesaid, 
or upon demand made by the prisoner or person in his behalf, 
shall refuse to deliver, or within the space of six hours after 
demand shall not deliver, to the person so demanding, a true 
copy of the warrant or warrants of commitment and detainer 
of such prisoner, which he and they are hereby required to 
deliver accordingly ; all and every the head gaolers and 
keepers of such prisons, and such other person in whose 
custody the prisoner shall be detained, shall for the first 
offence forfeit to the prisoner or party grieved the sum of 
one hundred pounds ; and for the second offence the sum of 
two hundred pounds, and shall and is hereby made incapable 
to hold or execute his said office; the said penalties to be 
recovered by the prisoner or party grieved, his executors or 
administrators, against such offender, his executors or ad- 
ministrators, by any action of debt, suit, bill, plaint, or in- 
formation, in any of the king's courts at Westminster, where- 
in no essoin, protection, privilege, injunction, wager of law, 
or stay of prosecution by non vult niter ins prosequi, or other- 
wise, shall be admitted or allowed, or any more than one im- 
parlance ; and any recovery or judgment at the suit of any 
party grieved, shall be a sufficient conviction for the first 
offence; and any after recovery or judgment at the suit of a 
party grieved for any offence after the first judgment, shall 
be a sufficient conviction to bring the officers or person 
within the said penalty for the second offence. 

VI. And for the prevention of unjust vexation by reiter- 
ated commitments for the same offence ; be it enacted by the 
authority aforesaid, that no person or persons which shall 
be delivered or set at large upon any Habeas Corpus, shall 
at any time hereafter be again imprisoned or committed for 



404 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

the same offence by any person or persons whatsoever, other 
than by the legal order and process of such court wherein he 
or they shall be bound by recognizance to appear, or other 
court having jurisdiction of the cause; and if any other per- 
son or persons shall knowingly contrary to this act recommit 
or imprison, or knowingly procure or cause to be recommitted 
or imprisoned, for the same offence or pretended offence, 
any person or persons delivered or set at large as aforesaid, 
or be knowingly aiding or assisting therein, then he or they 
shall forfeit to the prisoner or party grieved the sum of five 
hundred pounds; any colourable pretence or variation in the 
warrant or warrants of commitment notwithstanding, to be 
recovered as aforesaid. 

VII. Provided always, and be it further enacted, that if 
any person or persons shall be committed for high treason or 
felony, plainly and specially expressed in the warrant of com- 
mitment, upon his prayer or petition in open court the first 
week of the term, or first day of the sessions of Oyer and 
Terminer or general gaol-delivery, to be brought to his trial, 
shall not be indicted some time in the next term, sessions of 
Oyer and Terminer or general gaol-delivery, aftei* such com- 
mitment; it shall and may be lawful to and for the judges of 
the court of king's bench and justices of Oyer and Terminer 
or general gaol-delivery, and they are hereby required, upon 
motion to them made in open court the last day of the term, 
sessions or gaol-delivery, either by the prisoner or any one 
in his behalf, to set at liberty the prisoner upon bail, unless 
it appears to the judges and justices upon oath made, that 
the witnesses for the king could not be produced the same 
term, sessions or general gaol-delivery; and if any person or 
persons committed as aforesaid, upon his prayer or petition 
in open court the first week of the term or first day of the 
sessions of Oyer and Terminer and general gaol-delivery, to 
be brought to his trial, shall not be indicted and tried the 
second term, sessions of Oyer and Terminer or general gaol- 
delivery, after his commitment, or upon his trial shall be 
acquitted, he shall be discharged from his imprisonment. 

VIII. Provided always, that nothing in this act shall ex- 
tend to discharge out of prison any person charged in debt, 
or other action, or with process in any civil cause, but that 
after he shall be discharged of his imprisonment for such 
his criminal offence, he shall be kept in custody according to 
the law, for such other suit. 

IX. Provided always, and be it enacted by the authorities 



THE RESTORATION 405 

aforesaid, that if any person or persons, subjects of this 
reahii, shall be committed to any prison or in custody of any 
officer or officers whatsoever, for any criminal or supposed 
criminal matter, that the said person shall not be removed 
from the said prison and custody into the custody of any 
other officer or officers ; unless it be by Habeas Corpus or 
some other legal writ ; or where the prisoner is delivered to 
the constable or other inferior officer to carry such prisoner 
to some common goal : or where any person is sent by order 
of any judge of assize or justice of the peace to any common 
workhouse or house of correction ; or where the prisoner is 
removed from one prison or place to another within the 
same county, in order to his or her trial or discharge in due 
course of law ; or in case of sudden fire or infection, or other 
necessity; and if any person or persons shall after such com- 
mitment aforesaid make out and sign, or countersign any 
warrant or warrants for such removal aforesaid, contrary to 
this act ; as well he that makes or signs, or countersigns such 
warrant or warrants as the officer or officers that obey or 
execute the same, shall suffer and incur the pains and for- 
feitures in this act before mentioned, both for the first and 
second offence respectively, to be recovered in manner afore- 
said by the party grieved. 

X. Provided also, and be it further enacted by the author- 
ity aforesaid, that it shall and may be lawful to and for any 
prisoner and prisoners as aforesaid, to move and obtain his 
or their Habeas Corpus as well out of the high court of chan- 
cery or court of exchequer, as out of the courts of king's 
bench or common pleas, or either of them; and if the said 
Lord Chancellor or Lord Keeper, or any judge or judges, 
baron or barons for the time being, of the degree of the coif, 
of any of the courts aforesaid, in the vacation-time, upon 
view of the copy or copies of the warrant or warrants of 
commitment or detainer, or upon oath made that such copy 
or copies were denied as aforesaid, shall deny any writ of 
Habeas Corpus by this act required to be granted, being 
moved for as aforesaid, they shall severally forfeit to the 
prisoner or party grieved the sum of five hundred pounds, to 
be recovered in manner aforesaid. 

XL And be it declared and enacted by the authority afore- 
said, that an Habeas Corpus according to the true intent and 
meaning of this act, may be directed and run into any county 
palatine, the cinque-ports, or other privileged places within 
the kingdom of England, dominion of Wales, or town of 



4o6 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

Berwick upon Tweed, and the islands of Jersey or Guernsey ; 
any law or usage to the contrary notwithstanding. 

XII. And for preventing illegal imprisonments in prisons 
beyond the seas ; be it further enacted by the authority afore- 
said, that no subject of this realm that now is, or hereafter 
shall be an inhabitant or resiant of this kingdom of England, 
dominion of Wales, or town of Berwick upon Tweed, shall 
or may be sent prisoner into Scotland, Ireland, Jersey, Guern- 
sey, Tangier, or into parts, garrisons, islands or places be- 
yond the seas, which are or at any time hereafter shall be 
within or without the dominions of his Alajesty, his heirs or 
successors; and that every such imprisonment is hereby en- 
acted and adjudged to be illegal; and that if any of the said 
subjects now is or hereafter shall be so imprisoned, every 
such person and persons so imprisoned, shall and may for 
every such imprisonment maintain by virtue of this act an 
action or actions of false imprisonment, in any of his 
Majesty's courts of record, against the person or persons by 
whom he or she shall be so committed, detained, imprisoned, 
sent prisoner or transported, contrary to the true meaning of 
this act, and against all or any person or persons that shall 
frame, contrive, write, seal or countersign any warrant or 
writing for such commitment, detainer, imprisonment, or 
transportation, or shall be advising, aiding or assisting in 
the same, or any of them; and the plaintiff in every such 
action shall have judgment to recover his treble costs, besides 
damages, which damages so to be given, shall not be less than 
five hundred pounds; in which action no delay, stay or stop 
of proceeding by rule, order or command, nor no injunction, 
protection or privilege whatsoever, nor any more than one 
imparlance shall be allowed, excepting such rule of the court 
wherein the action shall depend, made in open court, as shall 
be thought in justice necessary, for special cause to be ex- 
pressed in the said rule ; and the person or persons who shall 
knowingly frame, contrive, write, seal or countersign any 
warrant for such commitment, detainer, or transportation, or 
shall so commit, detain, imprison or transport any person or 
persons contrary to this act, or be any ways advising, aiding 
or assisting therein, being lawfully convicted thereof, shall 
be disabled from thenceforth to bear any office of trust or 
profit within the said realm of England, dominion of Wales, 
or town of Berwick upon Tweed, or any of the islands, terri- 
tories or dominions thereunto belonging; and shall incur and 
sustain the pains, penalties, and forfeitures limited, ordained 



THE RESTORATION 407 

and provided in and by the statute of Provision and Prce- 
munire made in the sixteenth year of King Richard the 
second; and be incapable of any pardon from the king, his 
heirs or successors, of the said forfeitures, losses, or disabili- 
ties, or any of them. 

XIII. Provided always, that nothing in this act shall ex- 
tend to give benefit to any person who shall by contract in 
writing agree with any merchant or owner of any plantation, 
or other person whatsoever, to be transported to any parts 
beyond the seas, and receive earnest upon such agreement, 
although that afterwards such persons shall renounce such 
contract. 

XIV. Provided always, and be it enacted, that if any per- 
son or persons lawfully convicted of any felony, shall in open 
court pray to be transported beyond the seas, and the court 
shall think fit to leave him or them in prison for that pur- 
pose, such person or persons may be transported into any 
parts beyond the seas ; this act, or anything therein contained 
to the contrary notwithstanding. 

XV. Provided also, and be it enacted, that nothing herein 
contained shall be deemed, construed or taken, to extend to 
the imprisonment of any person before the first day of June 
one thousand six hundred seventy and nine, or to anything 
advised, procured, or otherwise done, relating to such im- 
prisonment ; anything herein contained to the contrary not- 
withstanding. 

XVI. Provided also, that if any person or persons at any 
time resiant in this realm, shall have committed any capital 
offence in Scotland or Ireland, or any of the islands, or for- 
eign plantations of the king, his heirs or successors, where 
he or she ought to be tried for such offence, such person or 
persons may be sent to such place, there to receive such trial, 
in such manner as the same might have been used before the 
making of this act : anything herein contained to the contrary 
notwithstanding. 

XVII. Provided also, and be it enacted, that no person or 
persons shall be sued, impleaded, molested or troubled for 
any offence against this act, unless the party offending be 
sued or impleaded for the same within two years at the most 
after such time wherein the offence shall be committed, in 
case the party grieved shall not be then in prison ; and if he 
shall be in prison, then within the space of two years after 
the decease of the person imprisoned, or his or her delivery 
out of prison, which shall first happen. 



4o8 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

XVIII. And to the intent no person may avoid his trial at 
the assizes or general gaol-delivery, by procuring his removal 
before the assizes, at such time as he cannot be brought back 
to receive his trial there ; be it enacted, that after the assizes 
proclaimed for that county where the prisoner is detained, no 
person shall be removed from the common gaol upon any 
Habeas Corpus granted in pursuance of this act, but upon 
any such Habeas Corpus shall be brought before the judge of 
assize in open court, who is thereupon to do what to justice 
shall appertain. 

XIX. Provided nevertheless, that after the assizes are 
ended, any person or persons detained, may have his or her 
Habeas Corpus according to the direction and intention of 
this act. 

XX. And be it also enacted by the authority aforesaid, that 
if any information, suit or action shall be brought or exhib- 
ited against any person or persons for any offence committed 
or to be committed against the form of this law, it shall be 
lawful for such defendants to plead the general issue, that 
they are not guilty, or that they owe nothing, and to give 
such special matter in evidence to the jury that shall try the 
same, which matter being pleaded had been good and suffi- 
cient matter in law to have discharged the said defendant or 
defendants against the said information, suit or action, and 
the said matter shall be then as available to him or them, to 
all intents or purposes, as if he or they had sufficiently 
pleaded, set forth or alleged the same matter in bar or dis- 
charge of such information, suit or action. 

XXI. And because m.any times persons charged w4th petty 
treason or felony, or as accessaries thereunto, are committed 
upon suspicion only, whereupon they are bailable, or not, ac- 
cording as the circumstances making out that suspicion are 
more or less weighty, which are best known to the justice of 
peace that committed the persons, and have the examinations 
before them, or to other justices of peace in the county : be 
it therefore enacted, that when any person shall appear to be 
committed by any judge or justice of the peace, and charged 
as accessary before the fact, to any petty treason, or felony, 
or upon suspicion thereof, or with suspicion of petty treason 
or felony, which petty treason or felony shall be plainly and 
specially expressed in the warrant of commitment, that such 
person shall not be removed or bailed by virtue of this act, 
or in any other manner than they might have been before the 

making of this act. ^^statutes of the Realm, V, 935, 93S,) 



THE RESTORATION 409 

178. James II, and the Catholics 

Foley 

James II. was a fervid Catholic, and most anxious to further 
the promulgation of that faith with the realm. Indeed, his ex- 
treme enthusiasm in the cause of his Church cost him dearly. 
The following letter, though bearing evidence of a natural op- 
timism and perhaps self-persuasion, yet presents a vivid picture 
of the status of the Catholic religion in England at the time 
when the close of the Stuart dynasty was drawing near. If the 
words of the king were not exactly as quoted by the chronicler, 
there is no reason to doubt that their spirit did not vary from 
the account given. 

LETTER FROM A JESUIT OF LIEGE TO A BROTHER OF HIS AT 

FRIBURG 

February 1686-7. 

It is wonderful to see King James' great affection to our 
Society. He wished prosperity to this whole College, by the 
Reverend Father the Provincial, and earnestly recommended 
himself to our prayers. Upon Father John Keynes return 
into England, he gave him a most gracious reception (while 
earls and dukes were commanded for some hours to wait for 
admittance), with whom, in the Queen's presence, he dis- 
coursed with all familiarity. He asked him how many can- 
didates for Order he had, and how many students? And 
upon the Provincial's answer to his Majesty, who was very 
urgent with him : That of the former, and of the latter he 
had above fifty. He replied: There would be occasion for 
double or treble that number, to effect what he designed for 
that Society's performance, and ordered that they should be 
all exercised in the art of preaching. "For now,'* said he, 
"England has need of such." 

I do not doubt but you have heard that the king, writing to 
Father de la Chaise, the French King's confessor, concerning 
the affairs of the house among the Walloons, declared that 
whatever was done to the English Fathers of that house he 
would look upon as done to himself. Father Clare, Rector 
of the same house, being arrived at London to treat of that 
matter, got an easy access to the King, and as easily gained 
his point. The King himself forbid him to kneel and kiss 
his hand, according to custom, saying: "Reverend Father, 
you have indeed once kissed my hand; but, if I had known 
then, as I do now, that you were a priest, I would rather my- 
self, Father, have kneeled down and kissed your hand." After 
he had finished his business, in a familiar conversation, his 
Majesty told this Father : That he would either convert Eng- 



410 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

land, or die a martyr ; and he had rather die the next day and 
convert it, than reign twenty years piously and happily and 
not effect it. Finally, he called himself a "son of the So- 
ciety, of whose good success," he said, "he was glad as of 
his own." And it can scarcely be expressed how much grati- 
tude he showed when it was told him : That he was made 
partaker, by our very Reverend Provincial, of all the merits 
of the Society out of which he is to nominate one for his 
confessor; but hitherto it is not known who it will be. Some 
report that it will be the Reverend Father Provincial, but 
still there is no certainty of that. Many are of opinion that 
Father Edward R. Petre, who is chiefly in favour with the 
King, will obtain an archbishopric, but more believe it will be 
a Cardinal's cap. To him has been granted, within this 
month or two, all that part of the Palace in which the King 
used to reside, when he was Duke of York, where there is 
not a day but you may see I know not how many courtiers 
waiting to speak to his "Eminence," for so they say he is 
called. For the King advises with him, and with many 
Catholic lords, who have the chief places in the kingdom, to 
find a method to propagate the faith without violence. Not 
long since, some of these lords objected to the King: That 
they thought he made too much haste to establish the faith. 
To whom he answered: "I am growing old, and must take 
large steps, else, if I should happen to die, I might perhaps 
leave you in a worse condition than I found you." When 
they asked him : Why then was he so little concerned about 
the conversion of his daughters, who were the heirs of the 
kingdom? he answered: God will take care of that; leave 
the conversion of my daughters to me. Do you, by your 
example, convert your tenants and others to the faith." 

He has Catholic Lord Lieutenants in most counties; and 
we shall shortly have Catholic Justices of the Peace in 
almost all places. We hope also that our affairs will have 
good success at Oxford. In the public chapel of our Vice- 
Chancellor, who is a Catholic, there is always one of our 
divines, who has converted some of the students to the faith. 
The Bishop of Oxford himself seems to be a great favourer 
of the Catholic faith, he proposed to the Council : "Whether 
it did not seem to be expedient that at least one College 
should be granted to the Catholics at Oxford, that they might 
not be forced to study beyond sea, at such great expenses." 
But it is not yet known what answer he had. The same 
Bishop, having invited two of our brethren together with 



. '-'' THE RESTORATION 4" 

SGlae of his nobility, drank the King's heaUh to a certain 
"heretic lord who was in company": Wishing his Majesty 
good success in all his undertakings : adding also, That the 
religion of the Protestants in England did not seem to him in 
a better condition than Buda was before it was taken; and 
that they were next to atheists that defended that faith. 
Many embrace the true religion, and four of the most con- 
siderable earls have lately made public confession of it. 
Father Alexander Keynes, the Provincial's nephew, to whom 
is committed the care of the chapel belonging to the Elector 
of Palatine's Envoy, is continually taken up in solving and 
answering the questions of heretics who doubt of their faith, 
of whom you may see two or three together walking by the 
chapel door, continually disputing about some point of 
religion. As to Prince George, it is yet uncertain what 
religion he professes. We gradually begin to get footing 
in England. We teach human learning [humanities] at 
Lincoln, Norwich, and York ; and at Worcester we have a 
public chapel protected by a guard of the King's soldiers; 
and we are to buy some houses in the town of Wigan, Lan- 
cashire. The Catholic interest grows very strong, and at 
some churches granted to the Catholics upon holidays there 
are often counted fifteen hundred present at the sermon. At 
London, also, our business is carried on with the same good 
success. Sermons are preached upon every holiday, and 
there are so many that frequent the chapels, that they are not 
big enough to hold them. Two of our Society, Dormer and 
Bertue, preach continually before the King and Queen ; 
Father Edward Neville, before the Queen Dowager ; Father 
Alexander Keynes in the chapel aforesaid ; others in other 
chapels. There are many houses bought in the Savoy near 
Somerset House, which is the Queen Dowager's Palace, 
towards the erecting of the first College in London for about 
eighteen thousand florins ; and they are hard at work to 
bring them to the form of a College, that a school may be 
opened before Easter. 

A Catholic Lord Lieutenant is shortly to go over to Ire- 
land, because the King cannot be satisfied with any other to 
establish the Catholic interest in that kingdom. The Parlia- 
ment will certainly sit in this month of February, of whom 
his Majesty is resolved to ask three things: First, that by 
a general Act all the Catholic peers shall be admitted to sit 
in the Upper House ; secondly, that the Test may be abol- 
ished; and thirdly, which is the chief point, that all penal 



412 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

laws against Catholics should be abrogated. And that he 
may the better obtain these things he designs to let them all 
know: That he is resolved to turn out all those who will 
not heartily act for the obtaining of them; and likewise dis- 
solve the Parliament. At which resolution some heretics 
being terrified, came to a certain earl to advise with him 
what might be done; to whom he answered: *'The King's 
mind is sufficiently known; what he has once said, he will 
certainly perform. If you love yourselves, submit to the 
King's pleasure." There is to be a great preparation of war 
at London, and a fleet of above one hundred men of war is 
to be fitted out against the spring, but against whom it is 
uncertain. The Dutch are under great apprehensions, but 
for what reason, although they are said to make an arma- 
ment, time will discover. 

{Records of the English Province of the Society offesus, ed. H. Foley, 
Lond., 1879. V, 157.) 

179. The Last Appeal 

Kennet 

In the year 1688 the affairs of the kingdom had come to such 
a pass that James II., becoming alarmed for his throne because 
of threatened invasion, resolved to radically reform his adminis- 
tration. On Wednesday, October 3, the Archbishop of Canter- 
bury and various members of the higher clergy, upon the king's 
invitation, presented to the monarch the following address : 

1. Our first humble advice is, that Your Majesty will be 
graciously pleased to put the management of your govern- 
ment in the several counties, into the hands of such of the 
nobility and gentry there, as are legally qualified for it. 

2. That Your Majesty will be graciously pleased to annul 
your Commission for Ecclesiastical Affairs, and that no such 
court (as that Commission sets up) may be erected for the 
future. 

3. That Your Majesty will graciously be pleased, that no 
dispensation may be granted or continued, by virtue whereof 
any person, not duly qualified by law, hath been, or may be 
put into any place, office or preferment, in church or state, 
or in the universities, or continued in the same; especially 
such as have cure of souls annexed to them ; And in particu- 
lar, that you will be graciously pleased to restore the presi- 
dent and fellows of St. Mary Magdalen College in Oxford. 

4. That Your Majesty will graciously be pleased to set 
aside all licenses or faculties already granted, by which any 
persons of the Romish communion may pretend to be enabled 



THE RESTORATION " 413 

to teach public schools; and that no such be granted for the 
future. 

5. That Your Majesty will be graciously pleased to desist 
from the exercise of such a dispensing power, as hath of late 
been used; and to permit that point to be freely and calmly 
debated and argued, and finally settled in Parliament. 

6. That Your Majesty will be graciously pleased to inhibit 
the four foreign bishops, who style themselves Vicars Apos- 
tolical, from further invading the ecclesiastical jurisdiction, 
which is by law vested in the bi-shops of this church. 

7. That Your Majesty will be pleased graciously to fill the 
vacant bishoprics, and other ecclesiastical promotions with- 
in your gift, both in England and Ireland, with men of learn- 
ing and piety; and in particular, (which I must own to be 
my peculiar boldness, for 'tis done without the privity of my 
brethren) that you will be graciously pleased forthwith to 
fill the Archiepiscopal Chair of York (which has so long 
stood empty, and upon which a whole province depends) 
with some very worthy person: for which (pardon me. Sir, 
if I am bold to say) you have now here before you a very 
fair choice. 

8. That Your Majesty will be graciously pleased to super- 
sede all further prosecution of Quo Warranto's against cor- 
porations, and to restore to ihem their ancient charters, 
privileges, and franchises, as we hear God has put into Your 
Majesty's heart to do for the City of London, which we in- 
tended to have made otherwise one of our principal requests. 

9. That if it please Your Majesty, writs may be issued out 
with convenient speed, for the calling of a free and regular 
Parliament, in which the church of England may be secured 
according to the Acts of Uniformity; provision may be made 
for a due liberty of conscience, and for securing the liber- 
ties and properties of all your subjects; and a mutual con- 
fidence and good understanding may be established between 
Your Majesty and all your people. 

10. Above all. That Your Majesty will be graciously 
pleased to permit your bishops to offer you such motives and 
arguments, as (we trust) may, by God's grace, be effectual 
to persuade Your Majesty to return to the communion of the 
Church of England, into whose most Holy Catholic faith you 
were baptized, and in which you were educated, and to which 
it is our daily earnest prayer to God, that you may be re- 
united. 

(Kennett, ed. cit., vol. Ill, p. 521.) 



PART VII 

ENGLAND A CONSTITUTIONAL 
MONARCHY 



4»S 



CHAPTER XXIV 

"THE GLORIOUS REVOLUTION" 



1 80. A Memorial from the Church of England to the 
Prince of Orange 

(1688) 
The encroachments of James upon the religious liberties of 
the people at last made the situation one impossible of con- 
tinuance. There seemed to be no remedy but the second deposi- 
tion of a Stuart. In this crisis, the people turned their gaze to 
the Prince of Orange, the one Protestant who had any claim of 
succession, though this claim was only by marriage. The clergy 
were especially solicitous that he should come to the aid of the 
Protestant faith, and to this end sent him the following earnest 
appeal for countenance and protection. 

Your Royal Highness cannot be ignorant that the Protest- 
ants of England, who continue true to their religion and 
government established by law, have been many ways 
troubled and vexed by restless contrivances and designs of 
Papists, under pretence of the royal authority, and things 
required of them unaccountable before God and man : Eccle- 
siastical benefits and preferments taken from them, without 
any other reason but the King's pleasure : That they have 
been summoned and sentenced by ecclesiastical commis- 
sioners, contrary to law, deprived of their birth-right in the 
free choice of their magistrates and representatives ; divers 
corporations dissolved, the legal security of our religion and 
liberty, established and ratified by King and Parliament, 
annulled and overthrown by a pretended dispensing power: 
New and unheard-of maxims have been preached, as if sub- 
jects had no right but what depends on the King's will and 
pleasure ; The militia put into the hands of persons not quali- 
fied by law, and a popish mercenary army maintained in the 
kingdom in time of peace, absolutely contrary to the law ; the 
execution of the law against several high crimes and mis- 
demeanors superseded and prohibited : The statutes against 
correspondence with the court of Rome, papal jurisdiction, 

417 



4i8 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

and popish priests, suspended: That in courts of justice, 
those judges are displaced, who dare acquit them whom the 
King would have condemned; as happened to the judges 
Powel and Holloway, for acquitting the seven bishops: 
Liberty of chusing members of Parliament (notwithstanding 
all the care taken, and provision made by law on that behalf) 
wholly taken away, by Quo Warrantos served against cor- 
porations and the three known questions : All things carried 
on in open view for the propagation and growth of Popery, 
for which the courts of England and France have so long 
jointly laboured, with so much application and earnestness: 
Endeavours to persuade your Royal Highnesses to liberty of 
conscience, and abrogating the penal laws and tests ; wherein 
they fell short of their aim. 

That they most humbly implore the protection of your 
Royal Highnesses, as to the suspending and encroachments 
made upon law, for maintenance of the Protestant religion, 
our civil and fundamental rights and privileges: And that 
your Royal Highnesses would be pleased to insist, that the 
free Parliament of England, according to law, may be re- 
stored; the laws against Papists, priests, papal jurisdiction, 
etc. put in execution, and the suspending and dispensing 
power declared null and void; the rights and privileges of 
the City of London, the free choice of their magistrates, and 
the liberties as well of that as of other corporations restored, 
and all things returned to their ancient channel, etc. 

(Kennett, ed. cit., Ill, 517.) 

181. The Prince of Orange Reorganizes the Government 

(Dec. 23, 1688) 

After the flight of James, England was without a legal gov- 
ernment. The Prince of Orange, after due invitation, proceeded 
to organize the administration. His first act was to provide for 
the calling of a Parliament, which he did in the following docu- 
ment. 

Whereas the necessity of affairs does require speedy 
advice; We do desire all such persons as have served as 
knights, citizens or burgesses, in any of the Parliaments that 
were held during the reign of the late K. Charles H. to meet 
Us at St. James's, on Wednesday the 26th of this instant De- 
cember, by ten of the clock in the morning. And We do 
likewise desire, that the Lord-Mayor and Court of Aldermen 
of the City of London would be present at the same time: 
And that the Common-Council would appoint fifty of their 



"THE GLORIOUS REVOLUTION" 419 

number to be there likewise. And hereof we desire 'em not 
to faih 

Given at St. James's, the 23d of December, 1688. 

W. H. Prince of Orange. 

(Kennett, ed. cit., Ill, 538.) 

182. The Lords Invite William to Undertake the Government 

The first step toward the foundation of a free Parliament was 
taken when the Prince of Orange summoned the Commons to 
confer with him (No. 181). The next step was taken by the 
Lords. They met at Westminster on Dec. 25, 1688, and formally 
invited William to undertake the government of England until 
the first meeting of Parliament. 

We, the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, assembled in this 
conjuncture, do desire your Highness to take upon you the 
administration of the public affairs, both civil and military, 
and the disposal of the public revenue, for the preservation 
of our religion, rights, laws, liberties, and properties, and of 
the peace of the nation: And that your Highness will take 
into your particular care, the present condition of Ireland; 
and endeavor, by the most effectual means, to prevent the 
dangers threatening that kingdom. All which, we make our 
request to your Highness to undertake and exercise, till the 
meeting of the intended convention, the 22d of January next. 
In which, we doubt not, such proper methods will be taken, 
as will conduce to the establishment of these things upon 
such sure and legal foundations, that they may not be in dan- 
ger of being again subverted. 

Dated at the House of Lords, Westm. Dec. 25th, 1688. 

(Kennett, ed. cit.. Ill, 539-) 

183. The Manner of Summoning Parliament 

On Christmas Day, 1688, the Lords at Westminster drew up a 
second address containing suggestions as to the method for sum- 
moning and electing members of the Parliament to be held on 
the 22d of January, 1689. 

We, the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, assembled at West- 
minster in this extraordinary conjuncture, do humbly desire 
your Highness to cause letters to be written, subscribed by 
yourself, to the Lords Spiritual and Temporal (being Prot- 
estants;) and to the several counties, universities, cities, 



420 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

boroughs, and cinque-ports of England, Wales, and Town of 
Berwick upon Twede. The letters for the counties, to be 
directed to the coroners of the respective counties or any one 
of them; and in default of the coroners, to the clerk of the 
Peace, of the respective counties: And the letters for the 
universities, to be directed to every Vice-Chancellor : And 
the letters to the several cities, boroughs, and cinque-ports, 
to be directed to the chief magistrate of each respective 
city, borough, and cinque-port; containing directions for the 
choosing, in all such counties, cities, universities, boroughs, 
and cinque-ports, within ten days after the receipt of the 
respective letters, such a number of persons to represent 
them, as are of right to be sent to Parliament: Of which 
elections, and the times and places thereof, the respective 
officers shall give notice, within the space of five days at the 
least. Notice of the intended elections for the counties, to be 
published in the churches, immediately after the time of 
divine service ; and in all market-towns within the respective 
counties : And notice of the intended elections for the 
cities, universities, boroughs, and cinque-ports, to be pub- 
lished within the said respective places. The said letters, 
and the execution thereof, to be returned, by such officer 
and officers who shall execute the same, to the Clerk of the 
Crown in the Court of Chancery; so as the persons so to be 
chosen, may meet and sit at Westminster, on the two and 
twentieth day of January next. 
Dated at the House of Lords, Westm. Dec. 25, 1688. 

(Kennett, ed. cit., Ill, 539.) 

184. Answer of the Prince to the Suggestions of the Lords 

(Dec. 28, 1688) 

In a brief but comprehensive address the Prince assured the 
Lords that he favourably regarded their suggestions concerning 
the method of calling Parliament together. 

I have considered of your advice ; and, as far as I am able, 
I will endeavour to secure the peace of the nation, until the 
meeting of the convention in January next; for the election 
thereof, I will forthwith issue out letters, according to your 
desire. I will also take care to apply the public revenue to 
the most proper uses that the present affairs require: And 
likewise endeavour to put Ireland into such a condition, as 
that the Protestant religion, and the English interests, may 
be maintained in that Kingdom. And I further assure you, 
That as I came hither for the preservation of the Protestant 



"THE GLORIOUS REVOLUTION" 421 

religion, and the laws and liberties of these kingdoms; so I 
shall always be ready to expose myself to any hazard, for 
the defense of the same. 

(Kennett, ed. cit., Ill, 540.) 

185. William of Orange to the Commons 

(Dec. 26, 1688) 

In accordance with the invitation of the Prince of Orange 
(No. 181) members of the Commons' House of the Parliaments 
held during the reign of Charles II., and the Lord Mayor and 
court of the City of London, as well as representatives of the 
Common Council of the City of London, gathered for the pur- 
pose of forming a Parliament. The Prince briefly addressed 
them, and authorized them to carry out the purpose of their 
meeting. 

You gentlemen that have been members of the late Par- 
liaments, I have desired you to meet me here, to advise the 
best manner how to persue the ends of my declaration, in 
calling a free Parliament, for the preservation of the Prot- 
estant religion, and the restoring the rights and liberties of 
the kingdom, and settling the same, that they may not be in i 
danger of being again subverted. 3 

And you the aldermen and members of the Common-Coun- 
cil of the City of London, I desire the same of you. And in 
regard your numbers are like to be great, you ma)', if you 
think fit, divide yourselves, and sit in several places. 

(Kennett, ed. cit., Ill, 539. 

186. The Commons Answer the Prince 

(Dec. 26, i688) 

Upon receipt of the command (No. 185) the Commons unani- 
mously consented to proceed with the organization of parlia- 
mentary government. They thanked the Prince for undertaking 
the care of the kingdom, and suggested methods for calling the 
Parliament together. 

We who have served as members of the Parliaments 
during the reign of the late King Charles II. together with 
the Court of Aldermen, and members of the Common-Council 
of the City of London, assembled at Your Highness's desire 
(in this extraordinary conjuncture), do. with an unanimous 
consent, tender to your Highness our humble and hearty 
thanks, for your coming in this kingdom, and exposing 
your person to so great hazards, for the preservation of our 
religion, laws, and liberties, and rescuing us from the mis- 
eries of popery and slavery : And desire your Highness, that 



422 SOURCE-BOOK OP ENGLISH HISTORY 

(in pursuance of those ends, and for the preservation of 
the peace of the nation) your Highness will take upon you 
the administration of public affairs, both civil and military, 
and the disposal of the public revenue. 

We do also desire, That your Highness will take into your 
particular care, the present condition of Ireland; and en- 
deavour, by the most speedy and effectual means, to prevent 
the dangers threatening that kingdom. 

All which, we desire your Highness to undertake and 
execute, until the meeting of the intended convention, the 
22d day of January next . . . 

[Suggestions as to summoning Parliament follow. They 
are almost identical with those of the Lords. No. 183.] 

(Kennett, ed. cit., Ill, 539.) 

187. The Prince's Address to Parliament 

'On Tuesday, January 22,' 1688-9, the Lords Spiritual and 
Temporal, and Commons, assembled at Westminster : the Lord 
Marquis of Halifax, executed the place of Speaker in the House 
of Lords, and the Commons chose Henry Powle, Esq., to be their 
speaker. After which this letter from the Prince of Orange was 
read in both Houses on the occasion of their meeting.' 

I have endeavoured, to the utmost of my power, to perform 
what was desired from me, in order to the public peace and 
safety, and I do not know that any thing hath been omitted, 
which might tend to the preservation of them, since the ad- 
ministration of affairs was put into my hands. It now 
lieth upon you to lay the foundations of a firm security for 
your religion, your laws, and your liberties. 

I do not doubt, but that by such a full and free repre- 
sentative of the nation, as is now met, the ends of my decla- 
ration will be attained : And since it hath pleased God hitherto 
to bless my good intentions with so good success; I trust in 
Him, that we will complete His own work, by sending a spirit 
of peace and union, to influence your counsels, that no 
interruption may be given to an happy and lasting settle- 
ment. 

The dangerous condition of the Protestants in Ireland, 
require a large and speedy succour; and the present state of 
things abroad, oblige me to tell you, that next to the danger 
of unseasonable divisions amongst yourselves, nothing can 
be so fatal, as too great a delay in your consultations. The 
states, by whom I have been enabled to rescue this nation, 
may suddenly feel the ill effects of it, both by being too long 



"THE GLORIOUS REVOLUTION" 423 

deprived of the service of their troops, which are now here, 
and of your early assistance against a powerful enemy, who 
hath declared war against them. And as England is by 
treaty already engaged to help them upon such exigencies, 
so I am confident that their cheerful concurrence to preserve 
this kingdom with so much hazard to themselves, will meet 
with all the returns of friendship and assistance, which may 
be expected from you as Protestants and Englishmen, when- 
ever their condition shall require it. 

(Kennett, ed. cit., Ill, 541.) 

188. The Parliamentary Title of the Sovereigns of England 

(Feb. 13, 1688) 

The era of Kingship by Divine Right passed with the fugitive 
Stuart. Once again in England the principle of an elective King- 
ship was vindicated. The title of William and Mary plainly 
rested upon parliamentary action, and since 1688 the Sovereigns 
of England have had in the will of the people a sure foundation 
for their thrones. The determination of William to be the sole 
executive head of the nation, — a determination that prohibited 
the co-sovereignty of Mary, — is clearly shown in the act con- 
ferring the crown upon him. 

The said Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons as- 
sembled at Westminster, do Resolve: 

That William and Mary, Prince and Princess of Orange 
be, and be declared King and Queen of England, France, 
and Ireland, and the dominions thereunto belonging, to hold 
the crown and royal dignity of the said kingdoms and 
Dominions, to them the said Prince and Princess during their 
lives, and the life of the survivor of them; and that the sole 
and full exercise of the royal power be only in, and ex- 
ecuted by the said Prince of Orange, in the names of the 
Prince and Princess during their lives; And after their 
deceases, the said crown and royal dignity of the said king- 
doms and dominions to the heirs of the body of the said Prin- 
ces; And for default of such issue, to the Princess Anne 
of Denmark, and the heirs of her body ; a rd for default 
of such issue, to the heirs of the body of the said Prince of 
Orange. 

And the said Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, 
do pray the said Prince and Princess of Orange to accept 
the same accordingly. 

REPLY OF THE KING 

My Lords and Gentlemen: 

This is certainly the greatest proof of the trust you have 



424 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

in me that can be given, which is the thing that makes us 
value it the more : And as I had no other intention in coming 
hither, than to preserve your religion, laws, and liberties, so 
you may be sure, that I shall endeavour to support them, and 
shall be willing to concur in anything that shall be for the 
good of the kingdom, and to do all that is in my power to 
advance the welfare and glory of the nation. 

(Kennett, ed. cit., Ill, 548.) 

189. The Bill of Rights 

(i W. & M. S. 2, c. 2, 1689) 

Statutes of the Realm 

Among the great constitutional documents the Bill of Rights, 
passed in October, 1689, ranks with the Magna Charta, On this 
great Act Macanlay says : "The Declaration of Right, though it 
made nothing law which had not been law before, contained the 
germ of the law which gave religious freedom to the Dissenter, 
of the law which secured the independence of the judges, of the 
law which limited the duration of parliaments, of the law which 
placed the liberty of the press under the protection of juries, of 
the law which prohibited the slave trade, of the law which abol- 
ished the sacramental test, of the law which relieved the Roman 
Catholics from civil disabilities, of the law which reformed the 
representative system, of every good law which has been passed 
during more than a century and a half, of every good law which 
may hereafter, in the course of ages, be found necessary to pro- 
mote the public weal, and to satisfy the demands of public 
opinion." 

BILL OF RIGHTS 

Whereas the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, 
assembled at Westminster, lawfully, fully, and freely re- 
presenting all the estates of the people of this realm, did, 
upon the thirteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord 
one thousand six hundred eighty-eight, present unto theii 
Majesties, then called and known by the names and style oi 
William and Mary, Prince and Princess of Orange, being 
present in their proper persons, a certain declaration in 
writing, made by the said Lords and Commons, in the words 
following ; viz : — 

Whereas the late King James IL, by the assistance of 
diverse evil counsellors, judges, and ministers employed by 
him, did endeavour to subvert and extirpate the Protestant 
religion, and the laws and liberties of this kingdom: — 

I. By assuming and exercising a power of dispensing with 
and suspending of laws, and the execution of laws, without 
consent of Parliament. 



"THE GLORIOUS REVOLUTION" 42$ 

2. By committing and prosecuting divers worthy prelates, 
for humbly petitioning to be excused form concurring to the 
same assumed power. 

3. By issuing and causing to be executed a commission 
under the Great Seal for erecting a court, called the Court 
of Commissioners for Ecclesiastical Causes. 

4. By levying money for and to the use of the Crown, by 
pretence of prerogative, for other time, and in other manner 
than the same was granted by Parliament. 

5. By raising and keeping a standing army within this 
kingdom in time of peace, without consent of Parliament, 
and quartering soldiers contrary to law. 

6. By causing several good subjects, being Protestants, 
to be disarmed, at the same time when Papists were both 
armed and employed contrary to law. 

7. By violating the freedom of election of members to 
serve in Parliament. 

8. By prosecutions in the Court of King's Bench, for 
matters and causes cognizable only in Parliament; and by 
diverse other arbitrary and illegal courses. 

9. And whereas of late years, partial, corrupt, and un- 
qualified persons have been returned and served on juries in 
trials, and particularly diverse jurors in trials for high 
treason, which were not freeholders. 

10. And excessive bail hath been required of persons com- 
mitted in criminal cases, to elude the benefit of the laws 
made for the liberty of the subjects. 

11. And excessive fines have been imposed; and illegal 
and cruel punishments inflicted. 

12. And several grants and promises made of fines and 
forfeitures, before any conviction or judgment against the 
persons upon whom the same were to be levied. 

All which are utterly and directly contrary to the known 
laws and statutes, and freedom of this realm. 

And whereas the said late King James II. having abdicated 
the government, and the throne being thereby vacant, his 
Highness the Prince of Orange (whom it hath pleased Al- 
mighty God to make the glorious instrument of delivering 
this kingdom from popery and arbitrary power) did (by the 
advice of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and diverse 
principal persons of the Commons) cause letters to be written 
to the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, being Protestants, and 
other letters to thcp several counties, cities, universities, bor- 
oughs, and cinque ports, for the choosing of such persons 



426 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

as represent them, as were of right to be sent to Parliament, 
to meet and sit at Westminster upon the two-and-twentieth 
day of January, in this year one thousand six hundred eighty 
and eight, in order to such an establishment, as that their 
religion, laws and liberties might not again be in danger of 
being subverted; upon which letters, elections have been ac- 
cordingly made. 

And thereupon the said Lords Spiritual and Temporal, 
and Commons, pursuant to their respective letters and elec- 
tions, being now assembled in a full and free representation 
of this nation, taking into their most serious consideration 
the best means for attaining the ends aforesaid, do in the 
first place (as their ancestors in like case have usually done), 
for the vindicating and asserting their ancient rights and 
liberties, declare : — 

1. That the pretended power of suspending of laws, or the 
execution of laws, by regal authority, without consent of 
parliament, is illegal. 

2. That the pretended power of dispensing with laws, or 
the execution of laws by regal authority, as it hath been as- 
sumed and exercised of late, is illegal. 

3. That the commission for erecting the late Court of Com- 
missioners for Ecclesiastical causes, and all other commis- 
sions and courts of like nature, are illegal and pernicious. 

4. That levying money for or to the use of the Crown, by 
pretence of prerogative, without grant of parliament, for 
longer time or in other manner than the same is or shall be 
granted, is illegal. 

5. That it is the right of the subjects to petition the king, 
and all commitments and prosecutions for such petitioning 
are illegal. 

6. That the raising or keeping a standing army within the 
kingdom in time of peace, unless it be with consent of parlia- 
ment, is against law. 

7. That the subjects which are Protestants may have arms 
for their defence suitable to their conditions, and as allowed 
by law. 

8. That election of members of parliament ought to be free. 

9. That the freedom of speech, and debates or proceedings 
in parliament, ought not to be impeached or questioned in 
any court or place out of parliament. 

10. That excessive bail ought not to be required, nor exces- 
sive fines imposed; nor cruel and unusrtal punishments in- 
flicted. 



''THE GLORIOUS REVOLUTION" 427 

11. That jurors ought to be duly impanelled and returned, 
and jurors which pass upon men in trials for high treason 
ought to be freeholders. 

12. That all grants and promises of fines and forfeitures 
of particular persons before conviction, are illegal and void. 

13. And that for redress of all grievances, and for the 
amending, strengthening, and preserving of the laws, parlia- 
ment ought to be held frequently. 

And they do claim, demand, and insist upon all and singular 
the premises, as their undoubted rights and liberties; and 
that no declarations, judgments, doings or proceedings, to the 
prejudice of the people in any of the said premises, ought in 
any wise to be drawn hereafter into consequence or example. 

To which demand of their rights they are particularly en- 
couraged by the declaration of his Highness the Prince of 
Orange, as being the only means for obtaining a full redress 
and remedy therein. 

Having therefore an entire confidence that his said High- 
ness the Prince of Orange will perfect the deliverance so far 
advanced by him, and will still preserve them from the viola- 
tion of their rights, which they have here asserted, and from 
all other attempts upon their religion, rights, and liberties : 

11. The said Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, 
assembled at Westminster, do resolve, that William and 
Mary, Prince and Princess of Orange, be, and be declared, 
King and Queen of England, France, and Ireland, and the 
dominions thereunto belonging, to hold the Crown and royal 
dignity of the said kingdom and dominions to them the said 
Prince and Princess during their lives, and the life of the 
survivor of them ; and that the sole and full exercise of the 
regal power be only in, and executed by, the said Prince of 
Orange, in the names of the said Prince and Princess, during 
their joint lives; and after their deceases, the said Crown and 
royal dignity of the said kingdoms and dominions to be to 
the heirs of the body of the said Princess; and for default 
of such issue to the Princess Anne of Denmark, and the heirs 
of her body and for default of such issue to the heirs of the 
body of the said Prince of Orange. And the Lords Spiritual 
and Temporal, and Commons, do pray the said Prince and 
Princess to accept the same accordingly. 

HL And that the oaths hereafter mentioned be taken by 
all persons of whom the oaths of allegiance and supremacy 
might be required by law, instead of them ; and that the said 
oaths of allegiance and supremacy be abrogated. 



428 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

1, A. B., do sincerely promise and swear, That I will be 
faithful and bear true allegiance to their Majesties King 
William and Queen Mary: 

So help me God. 

I, A. B., do swear, That I do from my heart, abhor, detest, 
and abjure as impious and heretical, that damnable doctrine 
and position, that Princes excommunicated or deprived by 
the Pope, or any authority of the See of Rome, may be de- 
posed or murdered by their subjects, or any other what- 
soever. And I do declare, that no foreign prince, person, 
prelate, state, or potentate hath, or ought to have, any juris- 
diction, power, superiority, pre-eminence, or authority ec- 
clesiastical or spiritual, within this realm: 

So help me God. 

IV. Upon which their said Majesties did accept the Crown 
and royal dignity of the kingdoms of England, France, and 
Ireland, and the dominions thereunto belonging, according 
to the resolution and desire of the said Lords and Commons 
contained in the said declaration. 

V. And thereupon their Majesties were pleased, that the said 
Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, being the two 
Houses of Par^-iament, should continue to sit, and with their 
Majesties' royal concurrence make effectual provision for 
the settlement of the religion, laws, and liberties of this king- 
dom, so that the same for the future might not be in danger 
again of being subverted; to which the said Lords Spiritual 
and Temporal, and Commons, did agree and proceed to act 
accordingly. 

VI. Now in pursuance of the premises, the said Lords 
Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in parliament as- 
sembled, for the ratifying, confirming, and establishing the 
said declaration, and the articles, clauses, matters, and things 
therein contained, by the force of a law made in due form 
by authority of parliament, do pray that it may be declared 
and enacted. That all and singular the rights and liberties 
asserted and claimed in the said declaration, are the true, 
ancient, and indubitable rights and liberties of the people 
of this kingdom, and so shall be esteemed, allowed, adjudged, 
deemed, and taken to be, and that all and every the partic- 
ulars aforesaid shall be firmly and strictly holden and ob- 
served, as they are expressed in the said declaration; and 
all officers and ministers whatsoever shall serve their Ma- 



''THE GLORIOUS REVOLUTION" 429 

jesties and their successors according to the same in all times 
to come. 

VII. And the said Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and 
Commons, seriously considering how it hath pleased Al- 
mighty God, in his marvellous providence, and merciful 
goodness to this nation, to provide and preserve their said 
Majesties' royal persons most happily to reign over us upon 
the throne of their ancestors, for v^hich they render unto 
Him from the bottom of their hearts ^their humblest thanks 
and praises, do truly, firmly, assuredly, and in the sincerity 
of their hearts, think, and do hereby recognize, acknowledge, 
and declare, that King James II. having abdicated the govern- 
ment, and their Majesties having accepted the Crown and 
royal dignity aforesaid, their said Majesties did become, 
were, are, and of right ought to be, by the laws of this realm, 
our sovereign liege Lord and Lady, King and Queen of Eng- 
land, France, and Ireland, and the dominions thereunto be- 
longing, in and to whose princely persons the royal State, 
Crown, and dignity of the same realms, with all honours, 
styles, titles, regalities, prerogatives, powers, jurisdictions 
and authorities to the same belonging and appertaining, are 
most fully, rightfully, and entirely invested and incorporated, 
united and annexed. 

VIII. And for preventing all questions and divisions in 
this realm, by reason of any pretended titles to the Crown, 
and for preserving a certainty in the succession thereof, in 
and upon which the unity, peace, tranquillity, and safety of 
this nation doth, under God, wholly consist' and depend, the 
said Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, do be- 
seech their Majesties that it may be enacted, established, and 
declared, that the Crown and regal government of the said 
kingdoms and dominions, with all and singular the premises 
thereunto belonging and appertaining, shall be and continue 
to their said Majesties, and the survivor of them, during 
their lives, and the life of the survivor of them. And that 
the entire, perfect, and full exercise of the regal power and 
government be only in, and executed by, his Majesty, in the 
names of both their Majesties during their joint lives; and 
after their deceases the said Crown and premises shall be 
and remain to the heirs of the body of her Majesty : and for 
default of such issue, to her Royal Highness the Princess 
Anne of Denmark, and the heirs of her body; and for default 
of such issue, to the heirs of the body of his said Majesty: 
and thereunto the said Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and 



430 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

Commons, do, In the name of all the people aforesaid, most 
humbly and faithfully submit themselves, their heirs and 
posterities, for ever: and do faithfully promise, That they 
will stand to, maintain, and defend their said Majesties, and 
also the limitation and succession of the Crown herein speci- 
fied and contained, to the utmost of their powers, with their 
lives and estates, against all persons whatsoever that shall 
attempt anything to the contrary. 

IX. And whereas it hath been found by experience, that it 
is inconsistent with the safety and welfare of this Protestant 
kingdom, to be governd by a Popish prince, or by any king 
or queen marrying a Papist, the said Lords Spiritual and 
Temporal, and Commons, do further pray that it may be en- 
acted. That all and every person and persons that is, are, or 
shall be reconciled to, or shall hold communion with, the 
See or Church of Rome, or shall profess the Popish religion, 
or shall marry a Papist, shall be excluded, and be for ever 
incapable to inherit, possess, or enjoy the Crown and govern- 
ment of this realm, and Ireland, and the dominions thereunto 
belonging, or any part of the same, or to have, use, or exercise 
any regal power, authority, or jurisdiction within the same; 
and in all and every such case or cases the people of these 
realms shall be and are hereby absolved of their allegiance; 
and the said Crown and Government shall from time to time 
descend to, and be enjoyed by, such person or persons, being 
Protestants, as should have inherited and enjoyed the same, 
in case the said person or persons so reconciled, holding com- 
munion, or professing, or marrying as aforesaid, were natur- 
ally dead. 

X. And that every king and queen of this realm, who at 
any time hereafter shall come to succeed in the Imperial 
Crown of this kingdom, shall, on the first day of the meeting 
of the first parliament, next after his or her coming to the 
Crown, sitting in his or her throne in the House of Peers, in 
the presence of the Lords and Commons therein assembled, 
or at his or her coronation, before such person or persons 
who shall administer the coronation oath to him or her, at 
the time of his or her taking the said oath (which shall first 
happen), make, subscribe, and audibly repeat the declaration 
mentioned in the statute made in the thirteenth year of the 
reign of King Charles II., intituled 'An Act for the more 
effectual preserving the King's person and government, by 
disabling Papists from sitting in either House of Parliament' 
But if it shall happen, that such king or queen, upon his or 



"THE GLORIOUS REVOLUTION" 431 

her succession to the Crown of this realm, shall be under the 
age of twelve years, then every such king or queen shall 
make, subscribe, and audibly repeat the said declaration at 
his or her coronation, or the first day of meeting of the 
first parliament as aforesaid, which shall first happen after 
such king or queen shall have attained the said age of twelve 
years. 

XI. All which their Majesties are contented and pleased 
shall be declared, enacted, and established by authority of this 
present parliament, and shall stand, remain, and be the law 
of this realm for ever: and the same are by their said Ma- 
jesties, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords 
Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in parliament as- 
sembled, and by the authority of the same, declared, enacted, 
or established accordingly. 

XII. And be it further declared and enacted by the au- 
thority aforesaid, That from and after this present session of 
parliament, no dispensation by non obstante of or to any 
statute, or any part thereof, shall be allowed, but that the 
same shall be held void and of no effect, except a dispensa- 
tion be allowed of in such statute, and except in such cases 
as shall be specially provided for by one or more bill or bills 
to be passed during this present session of parliament. 

XIII. Provided that no charter, or grant, or pardon granted 
before the three-and-twentieth day of October, in the year 
of our Lord One thousand six hundred eighty-nine, shall be 
any ways impeached or invalidated by this act, but that the 
same shall be and remain of the same force and effect in law, 
and no other, than as if this act had never been made. 

{Statutes of the Realm, VI, 142-145.) 

190. The Act of Settlement 

(12 & 13 Will. Ill, 1700) 

Statutes of the Realm 

The Act of Settlement, or Act of Succession, became a law on 
June 12, 1701. Hallam says of this important statute that it is 
"the seal of our constitutional laws, the complement of the Revo- 
lution itself and the Bill of Rights, and the last great statute 
which restrains the power of the Crown." 

AN ACT FOR THE FURTHER LIMITATION OF THE CROWN, AND 
BETTER SECURING THE RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES OF THE 
SUBJECT 

Whereas in the first year of the reign of your Majesty, and 
of our late most Gracious Sovereign Lady Queen Mary (of 



432 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

blessed memory) an Act of Parliament was made, intituled 
"An Act for declaring the Rights and Liberties of the Sub- 
ject, and for settling the Succession of the Crown," where- 
in it was (amongst other things) enacted, established and 
declared, That the Crown and Regal Government of the 
kingdoms of England, France and Ireland, and the dominions 
thereunto belonging, should be and continue to your Majesty 
and the said late Queen, during the joint-lives of your Ma- 
jesty and the said Queen, and to the survivor: And that 
after the decease of your Majesty and of the said Queen, 
the said Crown and Regal Government should be and remain 
to the heirs of the body of the said late Queen: And for 
default of such issue, to her Royal Highness the Princess 
Anne of Denmark, and the heirs of her body: And for de- 
fault of such issue, to the heirs of the body of your Majesty. 
And it was thereby further enacted, That all and every 
person and persons that then were, or afterwards should be 
reconciled to, or should hold communion with the See or 
Church of Rome, or should profess the Popish religion, or 
marry a Papist, should be excluded, and are by that act made 
for ever uncapable to inherit, possess, or enjoy the Crown and 
Government of this realm and Ireland, and the dominions 
thereunto belonging, or any part of the same, or to have, 
use, or exercise any regal power, authority, or jurisdiction 
within the same : and in all and every such case and cases 
the people of these realms shall be and are thereby absolved 
of their allegiance: And that the said Crown and Govern- 
ment shall from time to time descend to and be enjoyed by 
such person or persons, being Protestants, as should have in- 
herited and enjoyed the same, in case the said person or 
persons, so reconciled, holding communion, professing, or 
marrying as aforesaid, were naturally dead. After the 
making of which statute, and the settlement therein con- 
tained, your Majesty's good subjects, who were restored 
to the full and free possession and enjoyment of their re- 
ligion, rights, and liberties, by the providence of God giving 
success to your Majesty's just undertakings and unwearied 
endeavours for that purpose, had no greater temporal felicity 
to hope or wish for, than to see a royal progeny descending 
from your Majesty, to whom (under. God) they owe their 
tranquillity, and whose ancestors have for many years been 
principal assertors of the reformed religion and the liberties 
of Europe, and from our said most Gracious Sovereign Lady, 
whose memory will always be precious to the subjects of 



'THE GLORIOUS REVOLUTION" 433 



j 



these realms : And it having since pleased Almighty God to 
take away our said Sovereign Lady, and also the most hope- 
ful Prince William Duke of Gloucester (the only surviving 
issue of her Royal Highness the Princess Anne of Denmark) 
to the unspeakable grief and sorrow of your Majesty and 
your said good subjects, who under such losses being sensibly 
put in mind, that it standeth wholly in the pleasure of Al- 
mighty God to prolong the lives of your Majesty and of her 
Royal Highness, and to grant to your Majesty, or to her 
Royal Highness, such issue as may be inheritable to the 
Crown and regal Government aforesaid, by the respective 
limitations in the said recited Act contained, do constantly 
implore the Divine Mercy for those blessings : and your 
Majesty's said subjects having daily experience of your royal 
care and concern for the present and future welfare of these 
kingdoms, and particularly recommending from your Throne 
a further provision to be made for the succession of the 
Crown in the Protestant line, for the happiness of the nation, 
and the security of our religion ; and it being absolutely neces- 
sary for the safety, peace and quiet of this realm, to obviate 
all doubts and contentions in the same, by reason of any pre- 
tended title to the Crown, and to maintain a certainty in the 
succession thereof, to which your subjects may safely have 
recourse for their protection, in case the limitations in the 
said recited Act should determine : Therefore for a further 
provision of the succession of the Crown in the Protestant 
line, we your Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, the 
Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present 
Parliament assembled, do beseech your Majesty that it may 
be enacted and declared, and be it enactel and declared by 
the King's most excellent Majesty, by and with the advice 
and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Com- 
mons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the 
authority of the same. That the most Excellent Princess 
Sophia, Electress and Duchess Dowager of Hanover, daugh- 
ter of the most Excellent Princess Elizabeth, late Queen of 
Bohemia, daughter of our late Sovereign Lord King James I, 
of happy memory, be and is hereby declared to be the next in 
succession, in the Protestant line, to the Liiperial Crown and 
dignity of the said realms of England, France and Ireland, 
with the dominions and territories thereunto belonging, after 
his Majesty, and the Princess Anne of Denmark, and in de- 
fault of issue of the said Princess Anne, and of his Majesty 
respectively : And that from and after the deceases of his 



434 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

said Majesty, our now Sovereign Lord, and of her Royal 
Highness the Princess Anne of Denmark, and for default of 
issue of the said Princess Anne, and of his Majesty respec- 
tively, the Crown and regal Government of the said kingdoms 
of England, France and Ireland, and of the dominions there- 
unto belonging, with the royal state and dignity of the said 
realms, and all honours, stiles, titles, regalities, prerogatives, 
powers, jurisdictions and authorities, to the same belonging 
and appertaining, shall be, remain, and continue to the said 
most Excellent Princess Sophia, and the heirs of her body, 
being Protestants: And thereunto the said Lords Spiritual 
and Temporal, and Commons, shall and will, in the name of 
all the people of this realm, most humbly and faithfully sub- 
mit themselves, their heirs and posterities; and do faithfully 
promise that after the deceases of his Majesty, and her Royal 
Highness, and the failure of the heirs of their respective 
bodies, to stand to, maintain, and defend the said Princess 
Sophia, and the heirs of her body, being Protestants, accord- 
ing to the limitation and succession of the Crown in this Act 
specified and contained, to the utmost of their powers, with 
their lives and estates, against all persons whatsoever that 
shall attempt anything to the contrary. 

H. Provided always, and it is hereby enacted. That all 
and every person and persons, who shall or may take or in- 
herit the said Crown, by virtue of the limitation of this 
present Act, and is, are or shall be reconciled to, or shall hold 
communion with, the See or Church of Rome, or shall pro- 
fess the Popish religion, or shall marry a Papist, shall be 
subject to such incapacities, as in such case or cases are by 
the said recited Act provided, enacted, and established; and 
that every King and Queen of this realm, who shall come to 
and succeed in the Imperial Crown of this kingdom, by virtue 
of this Act, shall have the Coronation Oath administered 
to him, her or them, at their respective Coronations, accord- 
ing to the Act of Parliament made in the first year of the 
reign of his Majesty, and the said late Queen Mary, intituled, 
'An Act for establishing the Coronation Oath,' and shall 
make, subscribe, and repeat the Declaration in the Act first 
above recited mentioned or referred to, in the manner and 
form thereby prescribed. 

III. And whereas it is requisite and necessary that some 
further provision be made for securing our religion, laws 
and liberties, from and after the death of his Majesty and the 
Princess Anne of Denmark, and in default of issue of the 



"THE GLORIOUS REVOLUTION" 435 

body of the said Princess, and of his Majesty respectively: 
Be it enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and 
with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Tem- 
poral, and Commons, in Parliament assembled, and by the 
authority of the same. 

That whosoever shall hereafter come to the possession of 
this Crown, shall join in communion with the Church of Eng- 
land, as by law established. 

That in case the Crown and imperial dignity of this realm 
shall hereafter come to any person, not being a native of this 
kingdom of England, this nation be not obliged to engage 
in any war for the defence of any dominions or territories 
which do not belong to the Crown of England, without the 
consent of Parliament. 

That no person who shall hereafter come to the possession 
of this Crown, shall go out of the dominions of England, 
Scotland, or Ireland, without consent of Parliament. 

That from and after the time that the further limitation 
by this Act shall take effect, all matters and things relating 
to the well governing of this kingdom, which are properly 
cognizable in the Privy Council by the laws and customs of 
this realm, shall be transacted there, and all resolutions taken 
thereupon shall be signed by such of the Privy Council as 
shall advise and consent to the same. 

That after the said limitation shall take effect as aforesaid, 
no person born out of the kingdoms of England, Scotland, or 
Ireland, or the dominions thereunto belonging (although he 
be naturalised or made a denizen, except such as are born of 
English parents), shall be capable to be of the Privy Council, 
or a Member of either House of Parliament, or to enjoy any 
office or place of trust, either civil or military, or to have 
any grant of lands, tenements or hereditaments from the 
Crown, to himself or to any other or others in trust for 
him. 

That no person who has an office or place of profit under 
the King, or receives a pension from the Crown, shall be 
capable of serving as a Member of the House of Commons. 

That after the said limitation shall take effect as aforesaid, 
Judges' Commissions be made Qiiamdiu sc bene gesserint, 
and their salaries ascertained and established; but upon the 
Address of both Houses of Parliament it may be lawful to 
remove them. 

That no pardon under the Great Seal of England be plead- 
able to an impeachment by the Commons in Parliament. 



436 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

IV. And whereas the Laws of England are the birthright 
of the people thereof, and all the Kings and Queens, who 
shall ascend the Throne of this realm, ought to administer 
the Government of the same according to the said laws, and 
all their officers and ministers ought to serve them respect- 
ively according to the same: The said Lords Spiritual and 
Temporal, and Commons, do therefore further humbly pray, 
That all the Laws and Statutes of this realm for securing 
the established region, and the rights and liberties of the 
people thereof, and all other Laws and Statutes of the same 
now in force, may be ratified and confirmed, and the same 
are by his Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of 
the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, and by the 
authority of the same, ratified and confirmed accordingly. 

{Statutes of the Realm, VII, 636-638.) 

191. The Jesuits in England under William 

Henry Hutnberson 

The striking contrast between this letter and No. 178, written 
but thirteen years before, is the best illustration of the radical 
change in the status of the Catholics effected by the revolution 
of 1688. The disabilities then imposed on Catholics were not 
destined to be removed for over a century. The letter is from 
the Rev. Henry Humberson, Rector of St. Omer's College, to 
the Very Rev. Father General of the Society of Jesus. 

LETTER FROM THE FATHER PROVINCIAL TO THE FATHER 
GENERAL OF THE SOCIETY OF JESUS 

St. Omer, loth April, 1700. 

Very Reverend Father in Christ, 

P. C. 

It is deemed unsafe to write to your Paternity from Eng- 
land, and this is the reason of my long silence. Being now 
in Belgium I take the opportunity of writing to acquaint your 
Paternity in the first place that a great persecution is about 
to be raised in England. The Parliament which, so long as 
it stood in need of the aid of the Catholic princes in the war 
against the King of France and their own Sovereign (James 
II.), restrained itself for the time, now that the motive for 
dissimulation is removed, has resumed its accustomed prac- 
tices, and, besides reviving the ancient penal laws, both 
Houses have passed a new one, of which the following are 
the principal heads : 



"THE GLORIOUS REVOLUTION" 437 

I. If any Catholic Bishop, priest, or Jesuit be apprehended 
in this kingdom after the 25th of March, 1700, and shall be 
convicted of having exercised any episcopal or sacerdotal 
functions whatever, he shall be imprisoned for life in some 
place in England, to be assigned by the King. The informer 
is to receive a reward of £100 sterling (about 400 Roman 
scudi). Also, if any one should open a school for the educa- 
tion of children, or shall afford any means of doing so in his 
own house, without first taking the oath of allegiance and 
supremacy, he shall be condemned to the same punishment. 

II. After the 29th of September, 1700, every Catholic at- 
taining the age of eighteen must within six months after 
attaining that age take the said oath, abjuring his faith and 
embracing the national religion ; in default of which he shall 
be incapable of inheriting or of possessing any goods, honours, 
or titles whatever, and during such his refusal his inheritance, 
etc., shall pass to, and be held and enjoyed by his nearest 
Protestant relation, without being liable to account for the 
same (except in case of wilful waste). 

III. After the loth of April, 1700, every Catholic shall be 
incapable of either buying or selling any lands, possessions, 
or hereditaments whatever within the kingdom ; and all titles 
and contracts of every kind, under which property shall be 
bought or sold, shall be null and void. 

IV. Whoever shall send a son or daughter or any ward 
into foreign parts for education in the Roman Catholic 
religion shall be fined in the sum of £100 sterling, and 
whereas the statute of I. James I. awarded one half that fine 
to be paid to the Treasury and the other half to the informer, 
now, to intensify the exertions of the informer, the whole 
fine is allotted to them by way of reward. 

V. In order that Protestant sons or daughters born of 
Catholic parents may not be compelled to follow their parents' 
religion against their conscience for want of the means of 
support, it is enacted that in case such parents refuse to find 
them support proper to their state, the Lord Chancellor, upon 
the petition of any such child, shall order some scheme 
whereby the second clause of the act may be applied to them. 

This act having passed both Houses of Parliament only 
awaits the assent of the Prince of Orange, who is now king, 
to give it the force of law, and this there is no doubt of his 
giving. A persecution is hence anticipated, exceeding any 
that has been experienced since heresy took root in England. 
No act of Parliament more calctilated to root out the Catholic 



43^ SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

faith in England was ever enacted, and, unless it pleases God 
to hinder its execution, it will be impossible for religion long 
to exist in the kingdom. I have ordained public prayers 
throughout the whole Province to implore the Divine pro- 
tection. I entreat your Paternity likewise to recommend the 
unhappy condition of our country to the Holy Sacrifices and 
prayers of the whole Society, and that they will remember 
me also, 

Your Very Rev. Paternity's 

Most obedient servant in Christ, 
Henry Humberston. 

(^Records of the English Province of the Society of Jesus, ed. cit., V.) 



192. Dissenters in the Eighteenth Century 

Chantberlayne 

The student should not lose sight of the fact that for a thou- 
sand years after the coming of the Anglo-Saxons as for cen- 
turies before, the Church of Rome was the Church in England. 
Following the establishment of the Church of England in the 
reign of Henry VHI a variety of sects contended with the State 
Church for place and power. Much of the history of the later 
Tudors and the Stuarts finds its impulses in the dissensions of 
sectaries. Despite constant and stringent measures looking to 
uniformity of worship, dissent continued and increased. The fol- 
lowing selection well illustrates the theological divisions of the 
people after the Revolution of 1688. 

The inhabitants of this land, being a sensible and civilized 
people, are generally much addicted to religion ; and whereas, 
in those countries where the Roman Catholic religion is 
national, ignorance is the mother of devotion, people of the 
best parts being least affected with a religion; so, contrary 
to reason, here in England those who are of the best capaci- 
ties are generally most devout ; and again, the devoutest men 
of this church are always the best moralists, which shows 
their devotion to be unfeigned and without hypocrisy; but 
the greatest blemish to religion amongst us is the pitiable 
number of dissenters from the Established Church, some pre- 
judiced by education, some by sensuality, some by interest, 
and some few by misguided zeal; for, having repented of 
their former ill courses, whilst they call themselves members 
of the Church of England, they think they cannot thoroughly 
change their lives without changing their religion too, be- 
coming, like stray sheep, an easy prey to the next claimer. 

li we divide the people of England into 60 parts, perhaps 



"THE GLORIOUS REVOLUTION" 439 

five of them are such dissenters of all sorts who never come 
to the public services of the national church. 

Two parts who hold communion with the national Church 
and with their own particular sect at the same time, as occa- 
sion or opportunity offers. These are a foolish and incon- 
siderate people, who are little valued by either side by reason 
of their inconsistency and prevarication with God and man, 
especially if it appears to be done upon a selfish and temporal 
account. 

Three parts are these who being in constant communion 
with the Church of England, seldom or never joining openly 
with any other, seem nevertheless somewhat displeased with 
the Church, and the only reason they continue in it is because 
they are more displeased with every sect of the dissenters 
from it: for they acknowledge this to be the best form of 
religion in the country; but this they (having new schemes 
in their heads) would reform or refine. 

The most understanding of this sort of men have a political 
thirst after such a reformation, in hope by that means to 
comprehend many of the more moderate dissenters, and to 
bring them into communion with the national Church ; and 
such a design was set on foot in the beginning of this 
government in convocation, where all things of that nature 
are first to be debated ; but few of the dissenters at that 
time showing any willingness to be so comprehended, and 
some of the heads of them counselling ingeniously that all 
such attempts would prove successless, without quite dissolv- 
ing our frame of church government, the whole business fell. 

And instead thereof, all Protestant dissenters from the 
Church (except the Antitrinitarians) are tolerated so long 
as they live peaceably and conformably in the state, and 
every man in England doth now enjoy a free liberty of con- 
science and use of what religion best pleases him. 

The dissenters from the Church of England are of these 
five sorts: Libertines, Papists, Anabaptists, Independents, 
and Presbyterians. 

First, By Libertines we mean those that live ad libitum, 
whether they be Atheists, Sceptics, Deists, and the like; 
of these there are not many amongst us, at leastwise pro- 
fessedly so, and those that be, are a vain, fanatic, unthinking 
people, some of whom having a little smattering of learning, 
are troublesome with it to themselves and the rest of man- 
kind. These men have some superficial knowledge in second 
causes, but, for want of due consideration, they are al- 



440 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

together ignorant of the first Mover and of his revealed 
will ... 

The number of Jews and Socinians amongst us is still more 
inconsiderable. 

Secondly, Papists we have many, yet not so many but that 
in the late government, when they all appeared publicly, it 
was, and is, a wonder how the designs of that handful of 
men could put the whole nation into such convulsions . . . 

3. Anabaptists are of tw^o sorts : First, those who go vul- 
garly by that name; and, secondly, those who are distin- 
guished by the name of Quakers. 

The Anabaptists which go by that name are a more reason- 
able sort here in England that those of Flanders and Ger- 
many; very few of ours are so wild, extravagant, and en- 
thusiastical as those abroad. These submit themselves to 
civil government; and the chief article of their dissent in 
religion, is concerning Pcedohaptism, which they hold un- 
reasonable. Yet there is in many other things some of the 
Flemish leaven still among them, as accounting themselves 
the only pure church ; are envious at the Established Church ; 
abhor paying of tithes, and affect parity : but that which is 
worst of all, some of them have strange notions concerning 
our blessed Saviour and his Incarnation, the Holy Trinity, 
the soul of man, etc. Some of them, as well as Quakers, are 
great admirers of Jacob Behmen and his sort of cant; and 
many of them are closely wrapped up in Rosicrusian Divin- 
ity ; they look upon all liturgy and ceremonies as popish, allow 
that laymen may administer sacraments, expect an universal 
monarchy of Christ here on earth. Some of them are called 
Brownists, from Robert Brown of Northamptonshire, but 
there are some Brownists who allow of Psedobaptism. Fam- 
ilists, or the Family of Love, we have scarce any remaining: 
Adamites none. But here are some Antimonians who hold 
that no trangression is sin in the "children of God": Tras- 
kitts, now called Seventh-day men, who keep the Jewish Sab- 
bath : Antisabbatarians, who keep none at all ; and the 
Muggletonians are scarce extinct, who say that God the 
Father, leaving the government of Heaven to Elias, came 
down on Earth and suffered in human form; these deny the 
Holy Trinity, the creation of earth and water, the immortal- 
ity of the soul, religious ministry, and, some of them, ma- 
gistratual authority. 

Quakers. The other sort of Anabaptists are called Quakers 
or Shakers, from the trembling and quaking caused in them 



"THE GLORIOUS RlilOLUlION" 44t 

by vapors in their ecstatic fits, especially after long fasting, 
an exercise very much practised by the first disciples of 
this sect here in England, but of late almost wholly dis- 
used . . . 

They reject ministerial ordinances, and place religion 
wholly in the inward light of every man's private spirit ; 
and how different soever the impulses of one man's spirit 
are from another, and how different notions soever they 
create, they account it all the same light infused by the 
Spirit of God in different measures and degrees. They 
agree with other Anabaptists against infant baptism, and 
go far beyond them, even to the neglecting of all baptism, 
and the other sacrament of the Eucharist, all human learn- 
ing, appropriate places and times of worship, and abhor 
paying of tithes. They practised formerly abstinence and 
self-denial, but now of late none are prouder or more 
luxurious than the generality of them: they formerly wore 
plain and coarse clothes, now the men wear very fine cloth, 
and are distinguished from others only by a particular shap- 
ing of their coats, a little pleated cravat, and a slender 
hat-band; the women nevertheless wear flowered, or striped, 
or damask silks, and the finest linen cut and pleated in 
imitation of lace, but they wear no lace or superfluous rib- 
bons ; however, they are extremely nice in their choice of 
tailors, seamstresses, and laundresses. Those of the men 
who wear periwigs have them of genteel hair and shape, 
tho' not long. They are as curious in their meats, and 
as cheerful in their drink, and as soft in their amours, and as 
much in the enjoyment of life as others. 

They have generally denied the Trinity of Persons in the 
one Godhead, the resurrection of the body, the Incarnation 
of Christ (w^hich they seem to look upon as a figure) the 
locality of heaven and hell, and many other Catholic tenets. 

Independents. Independents are a sect lately sprung up 
from the Brownists. These have no general church govern- 
ment, but each particular congregation is ruled by their own 
laws and methods w^ithout dependence on one another: look 
upon tithes as superstitious and Judaical ; are against all 
set form of prayer, even the Lord's Prayer. They give 
power to private men to erect and gather churches, elect, 
ordain, depose, excommunicate, and determine finally in all 
church-causes. Laity sometimes administer the sacraments, 
and magistrates administer the office of matrimony. They 
are most of them Millenaries, and commence the last thousand 



442 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

years of Christ's kingdom from the beginning of Independ- 
ency. All those of the laity they account "gifted men," 
are permitted to preach, and pray, and to catechise the 
preacher concerning the doctrine he has preached. They 
communicate frequently, sitting at a table or without a table. 

Presbyterians. Presbyterians maintain that there is only 
a nominal difference between bishop, presbyter, and pastor; 
and that priest is not a gospel word, but belongs only to 
sacrifices. They will not allow deacons to preach, but only 
to collect for and administer to the poor. In every church 
they appoint lay-readers and rulers, who are to inspect men's 
manners and to bear a part in the government of the church. 
They acknowledge a priority of order ought to be amongst 
church-governours, but not a priority of jurisdiction. They 
deny the civil magistrate any authority in church govern- 
ment, making the king mere Laiciis, and subject to the 
censures of parochial church-governours. They have two 
church judicatories, the classical assembly and the general 
assembly, to which there lies an appeal from the classical. 

When we speak of any of these sectaries indiscriminately, 
we call them dissenters and nonconformists; and they that 
speak more freely term them fanatics and enthusiasts. It 
must be confessed that in all these sects there are some 
good moral men, nay, some of them zealous towards God, 
but in such a zeal as is not according to knowledge. 
Neither are they all equally blameable in all respects. The 
Presbyterians come nearest to the Church ; the Quakers are 
the most peaceable; the Papists are the most mannerly, and 
the like ; . . . 

{Angliee Noiitia, E. Chamberlayne, Lond. 20th, ed. 1703,) 



CHAPTER XXV 

UNION BETWEEN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND 



193. The Queen's Speeches on Union of England and Scotland 

Oldmtxon 

The strife of centuries was brought to a close by the union of 
England and Scotland. Queen Anne publicly expressed the hope 
that the two peoples would become firmly united into one great 
nation, and Professor Green, in his History of the English 
People, thus comments upon her words : "Time has more than 
answered these hopes. The two nations whom the Union brought 
together have ever since remained one. England gained in the 
removal of a constant danger of treason and war. To Scotland 
the Union opened up new avenues of wealth which the energy 
of the people turned to wonderful account. The farms of Lothian 
have become models of agricultural skill. A fishing-town on the 
Clyde has grown into the rich and populous Glasgow. Peace 
and culture have changed the wild clansmen of the Highlands 
into herdsmen and farmers. Nor was the change followed by 
any loss of national spirit. The world has hardly seen a mightier 
and more rapid development of national energy than that of 
Scotland after the Union. All that passed away was the jealousy 
which had parted since the days of Edward the First two peoples 
whom a common blood and common speech proclaimed to be one. 
The Union between Scotland and England has been real and 
stable simply because it was the legislative acknowledgment and 
enforcement of a national fact." 

(Jan. 28th, 1707.) 

My Lords and Gentlemen, 

Having acquainted you at the opening of this session, that 
the treaty for an Union between England and Scotland, 
which had been concluded here by the commissioners ap- 
pointed for that purpose, in pursuance of the powers given 
by the Parliaments of both kingdoms, was then under the 
consideration of the Parliament of Scotland, I can now, with 
great satisfaction, inform you that the said treaty has been 
ratified by Act of Parliament in Scotland with some altera- 
tions and additions. 

443 



444 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

I have directed the treaty agreed to by the commissioners 
of both kingdoms, and also the Act of Ratification from 
Scotland, to be laid before you, and I hope it will meet with 
your concurrence and approbation. 

Gentlemen of the House of Commons, 

It being agreed by this treaty, that Scotland is to have an 
equivalent for what that kingdom is obliged to contribute 
towards paying the debts of England, I must recommend to 
you, that in case you agree to the treaty you would take care 
to provide for the payment of the equivalent to Scotland 
accordingly. 

My Lords and Gentlemen, 

You have now an opportunity before you of putting the 
last hand to a happy Union of the two kingdoms, which I 
hope will be a lasting blessing to the whole Island, a great 
addition to its wealth and power, and a firm security to the 
protestant religion. The advantages which will accrue to us 
all from an Union are so apparent that I will add no more, 
but that I shall look upon it as a particular happiness, if this 
great work, which has been so often attempted without vsuc- 
cess, can be brought to perfection in my reign. 

(March 6th, 1706.) 

My Lords and Gentlemen, 

It is with the greatest satisfaction that I have given my 
assent to a Bill for uniting England and Scotland into one 
kingdom. 

I consider this Union as a matter of the greatest impor- 
tance to the wealth, strength, and safety of the whole Island, 
and at the same time, as a work of so much difficulty and 
nicety in its own nature, that till now all attempts, which 
have been made towards it in the course of above a hundred 
years, have proved ineffectual ; and therefore I make no doubt 
but it will be remembered and spoken of hereafter to the 
honour of those who have been instrumental in bringing it 
to such a happy conclusion. 

I desire and expect from all my subjects of both nations, 
that from henceforth they act with all possible respect and 
kindness to one another, that so it may appear to all the 
world, they have hearts disposed to become one people. This 
will be a great pleasure to me, and will make us all quickly 
sensible of the good effect of this Union. 



ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND 445 

And I cannot but look upon it as a particular happiness, 
that in my reign so full a provision is made for the peace and 
quiet of my people, and for the security of our religion, by so 
firm an establishment of the protestant succession throughout 
Great Britain. 

Gentlemen of the House of Commons, 

I take this occasion to remind you to make effectual pro- 
vision for the payment of the equivalent to Scotland within 
the time appointed by this Act, and I am persuaded you will 
show as much readiness in this particular as you have done 
in all the other parts of this great work. 

My Lords and Gentlemen, 

The season of the year being now pretty far advanced, I 
hope you will continue the same zeal which has appeared 
throughout this session, in despatching what yet remains un- 
finished of the public business before you. 

(The History of England, Oldmixon, Lond. 1739. III. p. 382-386.) 

194. Union between England and Scotland 

(5 Anke, c. 8, 1707) 

Collection 0/ Statutes, Evans 

AN ACT FOR AN UNION OF THE TWO KINGDOMS OF ENGLAND 

AND SCOTLAND 

{Preamble) 

Article I 

That the two kingdoms of England and Scotland shall 
upon the first day of May, which shall be in the year one 
thousand seven hundred and seven, and for ever after, be 
united into one kingdom by the name of Great Britain ; and 
that the ensigns' armorial of the said united kingdom be such 
as her Majesty shall appoint, and the crosses of St. George 
and St. Andrew be conjoined in such manner as her Majesty 
shall think fit, and used in all flags, banners, standards, and 
ensigns, both at sea and land. 

Article II 

That the succession of the monarchy to the united kingdom 

of Great Britain, and of the dominions thereto belonging, 

after her most sacred Majesty, and in default of issue of her 

Majesty, be, remain, and continue to the most excellent Prin- 



446 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

cess Sophia, electoiess and duchess dowager of Hanover, 
and the heirs of her body being Protestants, upon whom the 
Crown of England is settled by an Act of Parliament made 
in England in the twelfth year of the reign of his late Ma- 
jesty King William the Third, entitled, An Act for the 
further Limitation of the Crozvn, mid better securing the 
Rights and Liberties of the Subject: And that all Papists, 
and persons marrying Papists, shall be excluded from, and 
for ever incapable to inherit, possess, or enjoy the Imperial 
Crown of Great Britain, and the dominions thereunto belong- 
ing, or any part thereof ; and in every such case, the Crown 
and government shall from time to time descend to, and be 
enjoyed by such person, being a Protestant, as should have 
inherited and enjoyed the same, in case such Papist, or per- 
son marrying a Papist, was naturally dead, according to the 
provision for the descent of the Crown of England, made by 
another Act of Parliament in England in the first year of the 
reign of their late Majesties King William and Queen Mary, 
entitled. An Act declaring the Rights and Liberties of the 
Subject, and settling the Succession of the Crown. 

Article III 

That the united kingdom of Great Britain be represented 
by one and the same Parliament, to be styled, The Parlia- 
ment of Great Britain. 

Article IV 

That all the subjects of the united kingdom of Great 
Britain shall, from and after the Union, have full freedom 
and intercourse of trade and navigation to and from any 
port or place within the said united kingdom, and the do- 
minions and plantations thereunto belonging; and that there 
be a communication of all other rights, privileges, and ad- 
vantages, which do or may belong to the subjects of either 
kingdom; except where it is otherwise expressly agreed in 
these articles. 

Article V 
(Scotch ships to be registered as British ships.) 

• Article VI 

(Concerning Trade, Scots Cattle, and Importation of 

Victuals.) 



ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND 447 

Article VII 
(Concerning Excises.) 

Article VIII 

(Concerning Foreign Salt, Scotch Salt, Flesh Exported from 

Scotland, Curing of Herrings, Fish Exported, etc.) 

Article IX 
(Concerning Land Tax and Quota of Scotland.) 

Article X 
(Concerning Stamped Vellum.) 

Article XI 
(Concerning the Window Tax.) 

Article XII 
(Concerning Coals, Culm, and Cinders.) 

Article XIII 
(Concerning Malt.) 

Article XIV 

(Scotland not chargeable with any other duties before the 
Union, except these consented to.) 

Article XV 

(Concerning Equivalent Money and Uses, Coin of Scotland, 
African and Indian Company of Scotland, Overplus, 
Public Debts of Scotland, Manufacture of Coarse Wool, 
Fisheries, and the Appointment of Commissioners for 
the Equivalent.) 

Article XVI 

That from and after the Union, the coin shall be of the 
same standard and value throughout the united kingdom, as 
now in England, and a mint shall be continued in Scotland, 
under the same rules as the mint in England, and the present 
officers of the mint continued, subject to such regulations 
and alterations as her Majesty, her heirs or successors, or 
the Parliament of Great Britain shall think fit. 

Article XVII 
That from and after the Union, the same weights and 
measures shall be used throughout the united kingdom, as 
are now established in England, and standards of weights 



•448 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

and measures shall be kept by those burghs in Scotland, to 
whom the keeping the standards of weights and measures, 
now in use there, does of special right belong: All which 
standards shall be sent down to such respective burghs, from 
the standards kept in the Exchequer at Westminster, subject 
nevertheless to such regulations as the Parliament of Great 
Britain shall think fit. 

Article XVIII 

That the laws concerning regulation of trade, customs, and 
such excises to which Scotland is, by virtue of this treaty, to 
be liable, be the same in Scotland, from and after the Union, 
as in England; and that all other laws in use within the 
kingdom of Scotland, do after the Union, and notwithstand- 
ing thereof, remain in the same force as before (except such 
as are contrary to, or inconsistent with this treaty), but 
alterable by the Parliament of Great Britain; with this dif- 
ference between the laws concerning public right, policy, and 
civil government, and those which concern private right, 
that the laws which concern public right, policy, and civil 
government, may be made the same throughout the whole 
united kingdom ; but that no alteration be made in laws which 
concern private right, except for evident utility of the sub- 
jects within Scotland. 

Article XIX 

(Concerning Courts and the Privy Council.) 

Article XX 
(Concerning Heritable Offices.) 

Article XXI 
(Concerning Royal Burghs.) 

Article XXII 

That, by virtue of this treaty, of the peers of Scotland, at 
the time of the Union, sixteen shall be the number to sit and 
vote in the House of Lords, and forty-five the number of 
representatives of Scotland in the House of Commons of the 
Parliament of Great Britain; and that when her Majesty, her 
heirs or successors, shall declare her or their pleasure for 
holding the first or any other subsequent Parliament of 
Great Britain, until the Parliament of Great Britain shall 
make further provision therein, a writ do issue under the 
great seal of the united kingdom, directed to the privy council 



ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND 449 

of Scotland, commanding them to cause sixteen peers, who 
are to sit in the House of Lords, to be summoned to Parlia- 
ment, and forty-five members to be elected to sit in the 
House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain, 
according to the agreement of this treaty, in such manner as 
by an Act of this present session of the Parliament of Scot- 
land is or shall be settled ; which Act is hereby declared to be 
as valid as if it were a part of and engrossed in this treaty. 
And that the names of the persons so summoned and elected 
shall be returned by the privy council of Scotland into the 
court from whence the said writ did issue . . . And that 
every one of the lords of Parliament of Great Britain, and 
every member of the House of Commons of the Parliament 
of Great Britain, in the first and all succeeding Parliaments 
of Great Britain, until the Parliament of Great Britain shall 
otherwise direct, shall take the respective oaths appointed to 
be taken in stead of the oaths of allegiance and supremacy . . . 
And it is declared and agreed, That these words, This Realm, 
The Crown of the Realm, and The Queen of this Realm, 
mentioned in the oaths and declarations contained in the 
aforesaid Acts, which were intended to signify the crown 
and realm of England, shall be understood of the crown and 
realm of Great Britain ; and that in that sense the said oaths 
and declaration be taken and subscribed by the members of 
both Houses of the Parliament of Great Britain. 

Article XXHI 

That the aforesaid sixteen peers of Scotland mentioned in 
the last preceding article, to sit in the House of Lords of the 
Parliament of Great Britain, shall have all privileges of 
Parliament, which the peers of England now have, and which 
they, or any peers of Great Britain shall have after the Union, 
and particularly the right of sitting upon the trial of peers : 
And in case of the trial of any peer, in time of adjournment, 
or prorogation of Parliament, the said sixteen peers shall be 
summoned in the same manner, and have the same powers 
and privileges at such trial, as any other peers of Great 
Britain. And that in case any trials of peers shall hereafter 
happen, when there is no Parliament in being, the sixteen 
peers of Scotland who sat in the last preceding Parliament, 
shall be summoned in the same manner, and have the same 
powers and privileges at such trials, as any other peers of 
Great Britain ; and that all peers of Scotland, and their suc- 
cessors to their honours and dignities, shall from and after 



450 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

the Union, be peers of Great Britain, and have rank and 
precedency next and immediately after the peers of the like 
orders and degrees in England at the fme of the Union, and 
before all peers of Great Britain of the like order and degrees, 
who may be created after the Union, and shall be tried as 
peers of Great Britain, and shall enjoy all privileges of peers, 
as fully as the peers of England do now, or as they, or any 
other peers of Great Britain may hereafter enjoy the same, 
except the right and privilege of sitting in the House of 
Lords, and the privileges depending thereon, and particularly 
the right of sitting upon the trials of peers. 

Article XXIV 

That from and after the Union, there be one great seal for 
the united kingdom of Great Britain, which shall be different 
from the great seal now used in either kingdom: And that 
the quartering the arms, and the rank and precedency of the 
lyon king of arms of the kingdom of Scotland, as may best 
suit the Union, be left to her Majesty : And that in the mean 
time, the great seal of England be used as the great seal of 
the united kingdom, and that the great seal of the united 
kingdom be used for sealing writs to elect and summon the 
Parliament of Great Britain, and for sealing all treaties with 
foreign princes and states, and all public acts, instruments 
and orders of state, which concern the whole united kingdom, 
and in all other matters relating to England, as the great seal 
of England is now used: And that a seal in Scotland after 
the Union be always kept and made use of in all things relat- 
ing to private rights or grants, which have usually passed the 
great seal of Scotland, and which only concern offices, 
grants, commissions, and private rights within that kingdom ; 
and that until such seal be appointed by her Majesty, the 
present great seal of Scotland shall be used for such pur- 
poses: And that the privy seal, signet, casset, signet of the 
judiciary court, quarter seal, and seals of court now used in 
Scotland be continued; but that the said seals be altered and 
adapted to the state of the Union, as her Majesty shall think 
fit; and the said seals, and all of them, and the keepers of 
them, shall be subject to such regulations as the Parliament 
of Great Britain shall hereafter make. And that the crown, 
sceptre, and sword of state, the records of Parliament, and 
all other records, rolls and registers whatsoever, both public 
and private, general and particular, and warrants thereof, 
continue to be kept as they are within that part of the united 



ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND 451 

kingdom now called Scotland; and that they shall so remain 
in all time coming, notwithstanding the Union. 

Article XXV 
That all laws and statutes in either kingdom, so far as 
they are contrary to, or inconsistent with the terms of these 
articles, or any of them, shall, from and after the Union, 
cease and become void, and shall be so declared to be, by the 
respective Parliaments of the kingdom. 

As by the said articles of Union, ratified and approved by 
the said Act of Parliament of Scotland, relation being there- 
unto had, may appear. And the tenor of the aforesaid Act 
for securing the protestant religion and presbyterian church 
government within the kingdom of Scotland, is as follows : 

II. Our sovereign lady, and the estates of Parliament, con- 
sidering that by the late Act of Parliament, for a treaty with 
England for an Union of both kingdoms, it is provided, That 
the commissioners for that treaty shall not treat of or con- 
cerning any alteration of the worship, discipline, and govern- 
ment of the church of this kingdom as now by law estab- 
lished: Which treaty being now reported to the Parliament, 
and it being reasonable and necessary that the true protes- 
tant religion, as presently professed within this kingdom, with 
the worship, discipline, and government of this church, 
should be effectually and unalterably secured: Therefore 
her Majesty, with advice and consent of the said estates of 
Parliament, doth hereby establish and confirm the said true 
protestant religion, and the worship, discipline, and govern- 
ment of this church, to continue without any alteration to 
the people of this land in all succeeding generations ; and 
more especially her Majesty, with advice and consent afore- 
said, ratifies, approves, and for ever confirms the fifth Act 
of the first Parliament of King William and Queen Mary, 
entitled, Act ratifying the Confession of Faith, and settling 
Presbyterian Church Government ; with all other Acts of 
Parliament relating thereto, in prosecution of the declaration 
of the estates of this kingdom, containing the claim of right, 
bearing date the eleventh of April, one thousand six hun- 
dred and eighty-nine : And her Majesty, with advice and 
consent aforesaid, expressly provides and declares. That the 
foresaid true protestant religion, contained in the abovemen- 
tioned confession of faith, with the form and purity of wor- 



452 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

ship presently in use within this church, and its presbyterian 
church government and discipline (that is to say) the gov- 
ernment of the church by kirk sessions, presbyteries, pro- 
vincial synods, and general assemblies, all established by the 
aforesaid Acts of Parliament, pursuant to the claim of right, 
shall remain and continue unalterable, and that the said pres- 
byterian goverment shall be the only government of the 
church v^ithin the kingdom of Scotland. 

III. (Providing for the continuance of Universities and 
Colleges in Scotland.) 

IV. (Scotch subjects not to be liable to any oath incon- 
sistent with said Church Government; Queen's successors 
to maintain said government.) 

V. And it is hereby statute and ordained. That this Act of 
Parliament, with the establishment herein contained, shall 
be held and observed in all time coming, as a fundamental 
and essential condition of any treaty or Union to be con- 
cluded betwixt the two kingdoms, without any alteration 
thereof, or derogation thereto in any sort for ever : As also. 
That this Act of Parliament, and settlement therein con- 
tained, shall be insert and repeated in any Act of Parliament 
that shall pass for agreeing and concluding the foresaid 
treaty or Union betwixt the two kingdoms; and that the 
same shall be therein expressly declared to be a fundamental 
and essential condition of the said treaty or Union in all 
time coming: Which articles of Union, and Act immediately 
above-written, her Majesty, with advice and consent aforesaid, 
statutes, enacts, and ordains to be and continue, in all time 
coming, the sure and perpetual foundation of a complete and 
entire Union of the two kingdoms of Scotland and England, 
under the express condition and provision, that this approba- 
tion and ratification of the foresaid articles and Act shall be 
no ways binding on this kingdom, until the said articles and 
Act be ratified, approved, and confirmed by her Majesty, 
with and by the authority of the Parliament of England, as 
they are now agreed to, approved, and confirmed by her Ma- 
jesty, with and by the authority of the Parliament of Scot- 
land ; declaring nevertheless, that the Parliament of England 
may provide for the security of the church of England as 
they think expedient, to take place within the bounds of the 
said kingdom of England, and not derogating from the se- 
curity above provided for establishing of the church of 
Scotland within the bounds of this kingdom ; as also the said 
Parliament of England may extend the additions and other 



ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND 453 

provisions contained in the articles of Union, as above insert, 
in favours of the subjects of Scotland, to and in favours of 
the subjects of England ; which shall not suspend or derogate 
from the force and effect of this present ratification, but 
shall be understood as herein included, without the necessity 
of any new ratification in the Parliament of Scotland. 

VI. (Providing that all laws, etc., inconsistent with Ar- 
ticles of Union, shall cease.) 

VII. And whereas an Act hath passed in this present ses- 
sion of Parliament, entitled, An Act for securing the Church 
of England as by Lazv established; the tenor whereof fol- 
lows : 

Whereas by an Act made in the session of Parliament held 
in the third and fourth year of her Majesty's- reign, whereby 
her Majesty was empowered to appoint commissioners, under 
the great seal of England, to treat with commissioners to be 
authorized by the Parliament of Scotland, concerning an 
Union of the kingdoms of England and Scotland, it is pro- 
vided and enacted, That the commissioners to be named in 
pursuance of the said Act should not treat of or concerning 
any alteration of the liturgy, rites, ceremonies, discipline, or 
government of the church as by law established within this 
realm : And whereas certain commissioners appointed by her 
Majesty in pursuance of the said Act, and also other com- 
missioners nominated by her Majesty by the authority of 
the Parliament of Scotland, have met and agreed upon a 
treaty of Union of the said kingdoms; which treaty is now 
under the consideration of this present Parliament; And 
whereas the said treaty (with some alterations therein made) 
is ratified and approved by Act of Parliament in Scotland; 
and the said Act of ratification is by her Majesty's royal 
command, laid before the Parliament of this kingdom: And 
whereas it is reasonable and necessary, that the true prot- 
estant religion professed and established by law in the 
church of England, and the doctrine, worship, discipline, and 
government thereof, should be effectually and unalterably 
secured; be it enacted by the Queen's most excellent Ma- 
jesty, by and with the advice of the Lords Spiritual and Tem- 
poral, and the Commons, in this present Parliament assem- 
bled, and by authority of the same. That an Act made in the 
thirteenth year of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, of famous 
memory, entitled, An Act for the Ministers of the Church to 
he of sound Religion; and also another Act made in the 
thirteenth year of the reign of the late King Charles the 



454 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

Second, entitled, An Act for the Uniformity of the Public 
Prayers and Administration of Sacraments , and other Rites 
and Ceremonies, and for establishing the form of making, 
ordaining, and consecrating Bishops, Priests and Deacons in 
the Church of England, (other than such clauses in the said 
Acts, or either of them, as have been repealed or altered by 
any subsequent Act or Acts of Parliament,) and all and sin- 
gular other Acts of Parliament now in force for the estab- 
lishment and preservation of the church of England, and the 
doctrine, worship, discipline, and government thereof, shall 
remain and be in full force for ever. 

VIII. (Providing that the Queen's successors are to take 
an oath to maintain the settlement of the Church of Eng- 
land.) 

IX. (Providing that this Act is to be an essential part of 
any treaty between the kingdoms.) 

X. (Providing that the Articles of Union, and the Act for 
the establishment of the Presbyterian Church Government, 
be ratified and confirmed.) 

XL (Declaring the Acts for settling the Church Govern- 
ments in both kingdoms essential parts of the Union.) 

XII. And whereas since the passing the said Act in the 
Parliament of Scotland, for ratifying the said articles of 
Union, one other Act, entitled. An Act settling the Manner 
of electing the Sixteen Peers, and Forty-five Members, to 
represent Scotland in the Parliament of Great Britain, hath 
likewise passed in the said Parliament of Scotland at Edin- 
burgh, the fifth day of February, one thousand seven hun- 
dred and seven, the tenor whereof follows : 

Our sovereign lady considering. That by the twenty-second 
articles of the treaty of Union, as the same is ratified by an 
Act passed in this session of Parliament, upon the sixteenth 
of January last, it is provided. That by virtue of the said 
treaty, of the Peers of Scotland, at the time of the Union, 
sixteen shall be of the number to sit and vote in the House 
of Lords, and forty-five the number of the representatives 
of Scotland in the House of Commons of the Parliament of 
Great Britain; and that the said sixteen peers, and forty- 
five members in the House of Commons, be named and 
chosen in such manner as by a subsequent Act in this present 
session of the Parliament in Scotland, should be settled; 
which Act is thereby declared to be as valid, as if it were a 
part of, and engrossed in the said treaty: Therefore her 
Majesty, with the advice and consent of the estates of Par- 



ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND 455 

liament, statutes, enacts and ordains, That the said sixteen 
peers, who shall have right to sit in the House of Peers in 
the Parliament of Great Britain, on the part of Scotland, by 
virtue of this treaty, shall be named by the said peers of 
Scotland, whom they represent, their heirs or successors to 
their dignities and honours, out of their own number, and 
that by open election and plurality of voices of the peers 
present, and of the proxies for such as shall be absent, the 
said proxies being peers, and producing a mandate in writ- 
ing duly signed before witnesses, and both the constituent 
and proxy being qualified according to law ; declaring also, 
That such peers as are absent, being qualified as aforesaid, 
may send to all such meetings lists of the peers whom they 
judge fittest, validly signed by the said absent peers, which 
shall be reckoned in the same manner as if the parties had 
been present, and given in the said list ; and in case of the 
death, or legal incapacity of any of the sixteen peers, that the 
aforesaid peers of Scotland shall nominate another of their 
own number, in place of the said peer or peers, in manner 
before and after-mentioned: And that of the said forty-five 
representatives of Scotland in the House of Commons in the 
Parliament of Great Britain, thirty shall be chosen by the 
shires or steuartries, and fifteen by the royal boroughs, as 
follows: (The remainder of the Article provides for the 
methods of election, legal capacities, oaths to be administered 
to, etc., of those elected to the House of Commons.) 

Xni. As by the said Act passed in Scotland, for settling 
the manner of electing the sixteen peers, and forty-five mem- 
bers, to represent Scotland in the Parliament of Great Britain, 
may appear ; Be it therefore further enacted and declared by 
the authority aforesaid, That the said last-mentioned Act 
passed in Scotland for settling the manner of electing the 
sixteen peers, and forty-five members, to represent Scotland 
in the Parliament of Great Britain, as aforesaid, shall be, 
and the same is hereby declared to be as valid as if the same 
had been part of, and engrossed in the said articles of Union 
ratified and approved by the said Act of Parliament of Scot- 
land, and by this Act, as aforesaid. 

(Evans' Collection of Statutes, ed. Hammond & Granger, Lond., 1836, VIII, 446.) 



CHAPTER XXVI 

THE JACOBITE REBELLIONS 
195. The Proclamation of James III. 

Clarke 

The first Jacobite Rebellion, which was doomed to end in a 
complete fiasco, was hardly imposing in its beginnings. The 
account given by Peter Clarke of the reading of the Pretender's 
proclamation at Kendall reads like the description of the re- 
hearsal of a comedy, rather than a serious uprising. Yet the 
play turned out to be a tragedy for many, although from the in- 
ception it was a hopeless undertaking. 

Sir, — On Wednesday the second day of November one 
thousand seaven hundred and fifteen, the then high sherriff 
of Cumberland assembled the posse comitatus on Penrith 
Fell, Viscount Loynsdale being there as commanded of the 
malitia of Westmoreland, Cumberland, and Northumberland, 
who were assembled at the place aforesaid for prevention 
of rebelion and riots. The Lord Bishop of Carlisle and his 
daughter were there. By the strictest observation the num- 
bers were twenty-five thousand men, but very few of them 
had any regular amies. 

At II o'clock in the afternoon of the same day the high 
sherriff and the two lords received a true account that the 
Earl of Derwentwater, together with his army, were within 
6 miles of Penrith. Vpon receipt of this news the said high 
sherriff and the said 2 lords, the posse comitatus and the ma- 
litia fled, leaving most of their armes vpon the said fell. 

There is no doubt had the men stood their ground the said 
Earl and his men (as it hath since beene acknowledged by 
diverse of them) wood have retreated. About 3 aclock in 
the afternoon of the same day the said Earl, together with his 
army in number about one thousand seaven hundred, entred 
the said towne of Penrith, where they proclaimed their king 
by the name and title of James the 3d of England and Ire- 
land, and 8th of Scotland. In this towne they received 

456 



THE JACOBITE REBELLIONS 457 

what excise was due to the crowne and gave receipts for the 
same. A small party were sent to Lowther Hall to search for 
Lord Loynsdale, but not finding him there (for he was gone 
into Yorkshire), they made bold to take provision for them- 
selves and their horses, such as the Hall aforded. There 
were only at that time two old woomen in the said Hall who 
received no bodily damage. But provision being scarce in 
the said towne, Penrith, they marched betimes next morning 
for Apleby. The gentlemen paid their quarters of for what 
they called for in both these townes, but the commonality 
paid little or nothing, neither was there any person that re- 
ceived any bodily damage in either of the said townes. li 
they found any amies they tooke them without paying the 
owners for them. Only one man joyned them in their march 
from Penrith to Apleby. In this towne they made the same 
proclamation as they had done in the former, and received 
the excise. The weather at this time for some days before 
was rainey. They marched out of this towne betimes on 
Saturday morning, being the 5th of November, in order for 
Kendall. In this days march none joyned them (excepting 
one, Mr. Francis Thornburrow) son of Mr. William Thorn- 
burrow of Selfet Hall neare Kendall. His father sent one of 
his servant men to wait vpon his son because he was in 
scarlet cloathes, and stile of Captain Thornburrow. 

About 12 a'clock of the same day 6 quartermasters came 
into the towne of Kendall, and about 2 aclock in the after- 
noone Brigadeer Mackintoss and his men came both a horse- 
back, having both plads on their targets hanging on their 
backs, either of them a sord by his side, as also either a gun 
and a case of pistols. The said Brigadeere looked with a 
grim countenance. He and his men lodged at Alderman 
Lowrys, a private house in Highgate Street in this towne. 
About one houre after came in the horsemen, and the foot- 
men at the latter end. It rained very hard here this day, 
and had for several days before, so that the horse and the 
footmen did not draw their swords, nor shew their collours, 
neither did any drums beat. Onely six highlands bagpipes 
played. They marched to the cold-stone or the cross, and 
read the same proclamation twice over in English, and the 
reader of it spocke very good English without any mixture 
of Scotish tongue. I had for about one month lived and was 
clerke to Mr. Craikenthorp, attorney at Law, and as a spec- 
tator I went to heare the proclamation read, which I believe 
was in print, and began after this manner, vizt.. Whereas 



4S8 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

George Elector of Brunswick has vpsurped and taken vpon 
him the stile of the king of these realms, etc. Another clause 
in it I took particular notice of which was this, vizt., Did 
imedietly after his said fathers decease become our only and 
lawful leige. At the end of the proclamation they gave a 
great shout. A quaker who stood next to me not puting of 
his hat at the end of the said ceremony, a highlander thurst 
a halbert at him, but it fortunatly went between me and him, 
so that it did neither of vs any damage. So they dispersed. 

(Peter Clarke's Journal, 1715. From Miscellany of the Scottish History Society 

ed. I, p. 513.) 

196. Landing of the Young Pretender 

(1745) 

Duncan Cameron 

The following account is taken from The Lyon in Mourning, 
3. collection of journals, narratives, etc., of the second Jacobite 
invasion. This collection was made by the Rev. Robert Forbes, 
M.A., Bishop of Ross and Caithness. He was an ardent sup- 
porter of the Jacobite cause, and indefatigable in the acquisition 
of facts pertaining thereto. The original title-page of the manu- 
script from which the published work was edited, reads as fol- 
lows : "The Lyon in Mourning; or, A Collection (as made as 
exactly as the Iniquity of the Times would permit) of Speeches, 
Letters, Journals, &c., relative to the Affairs, but more particu- 
larly to the Dangers and Distresses of . . . 

Journal of the Prince's imbarkation and arrival^ etc., the 
greatest part of which was taken from Duncan Cameron at 
several different conversations I had with him. 

At Nantes the Prince and his few attendants waited about 
fifteen days before the Elizabeth ship of war came, which 
was to be their convoy in the expedition. To cover the 
design the better. Sir Thomas Sheridan passed for the father, 
and the Prince for the son, for none knew the Prince to be in 
company but the seven, some few others, and Mr. Welch (an 
Irishman, a very rich merchant in Nantes), who was to 
command the frigate of sixteen guns, on board of which the 
Prince and the few faithful friends with the servants were to 
imbark. 

After the Prince was on board he dispatched letters to 
his father, and the King of France, and the King of Spain, 
advising them of his design, and no doubt desiring assist- 
ance. . . . 

Two or three hours before landing, an eagle came hover- 



THE JACOBITE REBELLIONS 459 

ing over the frigate, and continued so to do till they were 
all safe on shore. Before dinner the Duke of Athol had 
spied the eagle; but (as he told several friends in Scotland) 
he did not chuse then to take any notice of it, lest they 
should have called it a Highland freit in him. When he 
came upon deck after dinner, he saw the eagle still hovering 
about in the same manner, and following the frigate in her 
course, and then he could not help remarking it to the 
Prince and his small retinue, which they looked upon with 
pleasure. His grace, turning to the Prince said, "Sir, I 
hope this is an excellent omen, and promises good things to 
us. The king of birds is come to welcome your royal high- 
ness upon your arrival in Scotland." 

When they were near the shore of the Long Isle, Duncan 
Cameron was set out in the long boat to fetch them a proper 
pilot. When he landed he accidentally met with Barra's 
piper, who was his old acquaintance, and brought him on 
board. The piper piloted them safely into Erisca (about 
July 21 St), a small island lying between Barra and South 
Uist. "At this time," said Duncan Cameron, "there was a 
devil of a minister that happened to be in the island of 
Barra, who did us a' the mischief that lay in his power. For 
when he had got any inkling about us, he dispatched away 
expresses with informations against us. But as the good 
luck was, he was not well believed, or else we would have 
been a' tane by the neck." 

When Duncan spoke these words, "a devil of a minister." 
he bowed low, and said to me, "Sir, I ask you ten thousand 
pardons for saying so in your presence. But, good faith, 
I can assure you, sir (asking your pardon), he was nothing- 
else but the devil of a minister." 

When they landed in Eriska, they could not find a grain 
of meal or one inch of bread. But they catched some 
flounders, which they roasted upon the bare coals in a mean 
low hut they had gone into near the shore, and Duncan 
Cameron stood cook. The Prince sat at the cheek of the 
little ingle, upon a fail sunk, and laughed heartily at Dun- 
can's cookery, for he himself owned he played his part 
awkwardly enough. 

Next day the Prince sent for young Clanranald's uncle 
(Alexander MacDonald of Boisdale), who lived in South 
Uist, and discovered himself to him. This gentleman spoke 
in a very discouraging manner to the Prince, and advised 
him to return home. To which it is said the Prince reph'ed, 



46o SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

"1 am come home, sir, and I will entertain no notion at all 
of returning to that place from whence I came; for that I 
am persuaded my faithful Highlanders will stand by me." 
Mr. MacDonald told him he was afraid he would find the 
contrary. . . . 

The royal standard was set up at Glenfinnan (August 
19th), the property of Clanranald, at the head of Lochschiel, 
w^hich marches with Lochiel's ground, and lies about ten 
miles v/est from Fort William. The Prince had been a full 
week before this, viz., from Sunday the nth, at Kinloch- 
moydart's house, and Lochiel had been raising his men who 
came up with them just as the standard was setting up. . . . 

September 4th. In the evening he made his entrance into 
Perth upon the horse that Major MacDonall had presented 
him with. . . . 

September i6th. The Prince and his army were at Gray''s 
Mill upon the Water of Leith, when he sent a summons to 
the Provost and Town Council of Edinburgh to receive him 
quietly and peacefully into the city. Two several deputa- 
tions were sent from Edinburgh to the Prince begging a 
delay till they should deliberate upon what was fittest to be 
done. Meantime eight or nine hundred Highlanders under 
the command of Keppoch, young Lochiel, and O'Sullivan, 
marched in between the Long Dykes without a hush of 
noise, under the favour of a dark night, and lurked at the 
head of the Canongate about the Nether Bow Port till they 
should find a favourable opportunity for their design, which 
soon happened. The hackney coach that brought back the 
second deputation, entred at the West Port, and after setting 
down the deputies at their proper place upon the street, drove 
down the street towards the Canongate, and when the Nether 
Bow Port was made open to let out the coach, the lurking 
Highlanders rushed in (it being then peep of day) and made 
themselves masters of the city without any opposition, or 
the smallest noise. 

(TAe Lyon in Mourtung, Robert Forbes, edited from his Manuscript by Henry 
Paten, 3 vols., University Press, Edinburgh, 1895. I, 201.) 

197. Escape of Prince Charles at Moy Hall 

Gih 

The peril which the Pretender narrowly escaped at Moy Hall 
on February 17th — not 24th, as erroneously dated in Gib's ac- 
count — is a good example of the dangers to which he was con- 
stantly subjected, and of the devotion of his adherents. Gib's 
"accompts" are mostly made up of household expenses, with 
occasional interruptions in the shape of narrative, 



THE JACOBITE REBELLIONS 461 

Copy (exact and faithful) of the Accompts of James Gib, 
who served the Prince in station of Master-Household and 
provisor for the Prince's own Table. 

24 Monday. At Moy hall. 

N.B. — This is the day in the morning of which Lord 
Loudon thought to have surprized the Prince, and to have 
taken him prisoner in his bed at Moy or Moy-hall. Old 
Lady Macintosh, living in Inverness, and getting notice of 
Lord Loudon's design, dispatched a boy (Lachlan Macintosh) 
about fifteen years of age, to try if he could get past Lord 
Loudon's men, and to make all the haste he could to Moy to 
warn the Prince of what was intended against him. The 
boy attempted to pass by Lord Loudon and his command, 
but found that he could not do it without running the risque 
of a discovery; and therefore, as he said, he lay down at a 
dyke's side, till all Lord Loudon's men passed him. and, tak- 
ing a different road, came to Moy about five o'clock in the 
morning. And though the morning was exceedingly cold, 
the boy was in a top sweat, having made very god use of his 
time. He said that Lord Loudon and his men (to use his 
own words) were within five quarters of a mile of Moyhall. 
Immediately the Prince was awaked, and having but about 
thirty men for a guard, he marched two miles down the 
country by the side of a loch, till his men should conveen. 
There was not the least suspicion entertained of any danger, 
otherwise there would have been a much stronger guard 
about the Prince's person ; and there is no doubt to be made 
but that Lord Loudon had got certain information of the 
small number of men who were to mount guard upon the 
Prince that night, which had induced him to try the experi- 
ment. Lady Macintosh (junior) was in great pain to have 
the Prince save off from Moy when she heard the alarm. 
The Prince returned the same night (Monday) to Moy and 
slept there. Mr. Gib, upon the alarm, having been sleeping 
in his cloaths, stept out with his pistols under his arm, and 
in the close he saw the Prince walking with his bonnet above 
his nightcap, and his shoes down to his heels; and Lady 
Macintosh in her smock petticoat running through the close, 
speaking loudly and expressly her anxiety about the Prince's 
safety. Mr. Gib went along with the Prince down the side 
of the Loch, and left several covered waggons and other 
baggage at Moy, about which Lady Macintosh forbad Mr, 



462 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

Gib to be in the least anxious, for that she would do her best 
to take care of them. And indeed she was as good as her 
word; for upon the Prince's return to Moy, Mr. Gib found 
all his things in great safety, the most of them having been 
carried off by Lady Macintosh's orders into a wood, where 
they would not readily have been discovered, though Lord 
Loudon and his men had proceeded to Moy. But they were 
most providentially stopt in their march, which happened 
thus. A blacksmith and other four, with loaded muskets in 
their hands, were keeping watch upon a muir at some dis- 
tance from Moy towards Inverness. As they were walking 
up and down, they happened to spy a body of men walking 
towards them, upon which the blacksmith fired his piece, 
and the other four followed his example. The Laird of 
Macleod's piper (reputed the best of his business in all 
Scotland) was shot dead on the spot. Then the blacksmith 
(Fraser) and his trustly companions raised a cry (calling 
some particular regiments by their names) to the Prince's 
army to advance, as if they had been at hand, which so far 
imposed upon Lord Loudon and his command (a pretty con- 
siderable one), and struck them with such a panick, that 
instantly they beat a retreat, and made their way back to 
Inverness in great disorder, imagining the Prince's whole 
army to be at their heels. This gallant and resolute be- 
haviour of the five, which speaks an uncommon presence of 
mind, happened much about the same time when the boy 
(iauchlan Macintosh) arrived at Moy to give the alarm. 

{The Lyon in Mourning, ed. cit., II, 134.) 

198. After CuUoden 

John Fraser 

The brutalities perpetrated upon the conquered by the victors 
at Culloden are shown in the account, given by Mr. Fraser, of 
the execution of prisoners, with its attendant outrages. 

An account of the Signal Escape of John Fraser taken 
from the Copy Printed at Edinburgh. 

John Fraser, Ensign in the Master of Lovat's regiment, 
was shot through the thigh by a musket bullet at the battle 
of Culloden, and was taken prisoner, after the battle, at a 
little distance from the field, and carried to the House of 
Culloden, where a multitude of other wounded prisoners lay 
under strong guards. There he and the other miserable 



THE JACOBITE REBELLIONS 463 

gentlemen (for most of them were gentlemen), lay with their 
wounds undressed for two days in great torture. Upon the 
third day he was carried out of Culloden House, and with 
other eighteen of his fellow prisoners flung into carts, 
which they imagined were to carry them to Inverness to be 
dressed of their wounds. They were soon undeceived. The 
carts stopt at a park dyke at some distance from the house ; 
there they were dragged out of the carts ; the soldiers who 
guarded them, under command of three officers, carried the 
prisoners close to the wall or park dyke, along with they 
ranged them upon their knees, and bid them prepare for 
death. The soldiers immediately drew up opposite to them. 
It is dreadful to proceed ! They levelled their guns ! They 
fired among them. Mr. Fraser fell with the rest, and did 
not doubt that he was shot. But as those gentlemen who 
proceeded thus deliberately in cold blood had their orders to 
do nothing by halves, a party of them went along and 
examined the slaughter, and knocked out the brains of such 
as were not quite dead; and observing signs of life in Mr. 
Fraser, one of them with the butt of his gun struck him on 
the face, dashed out one of his eyes, and beat down his nose 
flat and shattered to his cheek, and left him for dead. The 
slaughter thus finished the soldiers left the field. In this 
miserable situation. Lord Boyd riding out that way with his 
servant, espied some life in Mr. Fraser, who by that time had 
crawled to a little distance from his dead friends, and calling 
out to him, asked what he was. Fraser told him he was an 
officer in the Master of Lovat's corps. Lord Boyd offered 
him money, saying he had been acquainted with the Master 
of Lovat, his colonel. Mr. Fraser said he had no use for 
money, but begged him for God's sake to cause his servant 
carry him to a certain mill and cott house, where he said 
he would be concealed and taken care of. This young Lord 
had the humanity to do so, and in this place Mr. Fraser lay 
concealed, and by God's providence recovered of his wounds, 
and is now a living witness of as unparallel'd a story in all 
its circumstances as can be met with in the history of any 
age. 

Mr. Fraser is well known and his veracity attested by all 
the Inverness people. 

jV.j5. — Mr. David Chisholm, Presbyterian Minister at 
Kilmorack in the shire of Inverness, when in Edinburgh at 
the General Assembly in May 1758, told that said Fraser ()r 
Maclver still lives at a place called Wellhouse in said parish 



464 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

of Kilmorack, that his name is Alexander and not John, and 
that he himself (Mr. Chisholm), is a blood relation to said 
Alexander Eraser's Wife (See f. 1619). 

Robert Fraser, A.M. 

(From Tke Lyo7i in Mourning, ed. cit., II, p. z6o/.) 

1 99. Bond Given by the Young Pretender 

The Lyon in Mourning 

The conditions of the bond given by Prince Charles to Hep- 
burn of Kingstoun were hardly calculated to give it value, save 
as a curiosity, but it well illustrates the manner in which money 
was raised for the Stuart cause. The original was preserved by 
Mr. John Goodwillie, who attested the copy under the name of 
Benevole — a punning translation of his name in Latin. 

L. S. We, Charles Prince of Wales, etc., Regent of the 
kingdoms of Scotland, England, France, and Ireland, and the 
dominions thereunto belonging, Whereas Patrick Hepburn 
of Kingstoun in the County of Haddington hath advanced 
to us by the hands of Collonel Lauchlan M'Lauchlan of that 
Ilk the sum of seven hundred and fourty pounds sterling in 
numerate money of Britain, we therefore hereby authorise 
and appoint our treasurer for the time to repay the aforsaid 
sum of seven hundred and fourty pounds to the said Patrick 
Hepburn, his heirs and assigneys whomsoever, and that how 
soon we shall arrive at our Palace of St. James, London, 
our Royall Father settled upon the throne of our royall an- 
cestors, and our said kingdoms in peace and tranquillity, 
under our government. Given at our Palace of Holyrood- 
house, the seventeenth day of October, 1745. 

(Signed) Charles P. R. 

Hccc est vera copia ita testamur. 

Johannes Benevole, 
S crib a. 

e- L -Lu ( Robertus Ross, testis. 
otc suhscrioitur < /,. , ,/r- in . ,• 

( Alexander Mitchell, testis. 

(From The Lyon in Mourning {sz^ above). II, p. 262.) 

200. Execution of the Rebel Lords 

R. Graham 

The following letter, written by a spectator of the execution 
of the rebel lords, furnishes a fitting conclusion to the extracts 
concerning the Jacobite uprisings, which in 1715 and 1746 threat- 
ened the throne of the Protestant Succession. 



THE JACOBITE REBELLIONS 465 

LETTER DESCRIBING THE EXECUTION OF THE REBEL LORDS IN 
1746, COPIED FROM THE ORIGINAL 

August 20th (1746). — Dear Sir, — As you and Mrs. 
Grimstone attended the Lords' tryal, I thought it would not 
be disagreeable to you to have an account of their exit or 
the last act of their tragedy, especially as I saw part of it, 
and heard the rest from one who was on the scaffold. The 
sheriffs came there between 9 and 10 to see if everything 
was prepared. The scaffold was nine feet above ground, 
with a rail and black bays hanging from it. On the floor 
(which was covered with sawdust) was fixed the block, 
2ft. 2in. high and 3 inches broad : near it lay red bags to 
receive the heads, and two white sheets to wrap the bodies 
in, and on each side were the coffins with coronets and 
inscriptions, and on the ground two hearses. The execu- 
tioner was in blew with gold buttons and a red waistcoat 
(the cloaths of Fletcher executed by him) : the ax that of 
a carpenter. 

At 1 1 the Lords came : Kilmarnock attended by Foster and 
a young clergyman. Balmerino was dressed in blew turned 
up with red (his uniform). Going into the house prepared 
for them, a spectator asked which was Balmerino ; to which 
he replied, "I am he at your service." Then turning to 
Kilmarnock, he told him he was sorry he was not the only 
sacrifice, and asked the sheriffs if they were ready, for he 
longed to be at home, and said he was asham'd for some of 
his friends, who shed tears when Lord Kilmarnock came on 
the scaffold. The bays was turned up that all might see, 
and the executioner put on a white waistcoat. My Lord had 
a long discourse with Foster, who pressed him to own there 
what he had told him privately, — a detestation of the fact 
for which he suffered; which he did and which Foster has 
advertised. 

The executioner was a great while fitting him for the 
block, my Lord rising several times; and when down on his 
knees, it was six minutes before he gave the sign, when his 
head was nearly severed from his body by one blow ; a slight 
cut finished the execution, and the body fell on its back. . . . 

The scaffold being cleared, and the executioner having 
put on a clean shirt, Lord Balmerino mounted the stage, and 
immediately walked to his coffin, and read the inscription, 
and then called up a warder, and gave him his tye wig, and 
put on a Scotch plaid cap, and then read a paper denying 



466 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

the Pretender's orders for no quarter, commending him very 
much: but being interrupted, he desired (briskly) to go on, 
and said he should lay down his head with pleasure on that 
block, pointing to it, and desiring those between him and it 
to remove. He reflected very much upon General William- 
son, but said he had received the Sacrament that morning, 
and was told it was not proper for a person of his condition 
to say more of him, but referred for his character to Psalm 
109, from verse 5th to 15th. He said the Pretender gave 
him leave to enter our service, but soon as he could be of 
service to him, he left us. He talked to the executioner, 
took the ax in his hand, and tried the block, and told and 
showed him where to strike (near his head), and gave him 
three guineas (all he had) ; kneeled down and presently gave 
the sign. The first blow did not strike his head off, so that 
the assistants were forced to lift up his body to receive a 
second, but the third finished him. 

I own I was a great deal more moved when I called on 
my friend Mr. Gill in the afternoon, and found him in great 
pain and given over by his Doctor, than I was with v/hat I 
saw in the morning. 

The Guards attending were 1,000, and I am sure the spec- 
tators were 100 to i of the Guards. 

I am yours and Mr. and Mrs. Grimstons 

Most obliged servant, 

R. Graham. 

(Diaries of a Lady of Quality (Miss Wynn), ed. by A. Hayward Q.C. 
London, 1864, p. 142,) 



CHAPTER XXVII 

JOHN WILKES 

20I. No. 45 of the "North Briton" 

We cannot better introduce the following paper than by quot- 
ing the words of Sir Thomas Erskine May, in his Constitu- 
tional History of England: 

"On the 23rd of April, 1763, appeared the memorable num- 
ber of the 'North Briton/ commenting upon the king's 
speech at the prorogation, and upon the unpopular peace 
recently concluded. It was at once stigmatized by the court 
as an audacious libel, and a studied insult to the king him- 
self; and it has since been represented in the same light, by 
historians not heated by the controversies of that time. But 
however bitter and offensive, it unquestionably assailed the 
minister rather than the king. Recognizing, again and 
again, the constitutional maxim of ministerial responsibility, 
it treated the royal speech as the composition of the min- 
ister." 

The result of the publication was the prosecution of 
Wilkes for libel in the Court of King's Bench. A verdict 
was easily obtained, but the people considered Wilkes their 
champion, and the illegal proceedings against him made him 
a hero. He was punished by imprisonment, but finally 
triumphed by being seated in that Parliament which had 
ousted him from their midst as a thing unclean. 

THE NORTH BRITON 
No. XLV, Saturday, April 23, 1763. 

Genus orotionis atrox, ct vehemens, ciii opponitur lenitatis 

et mansiietudinis. 

Cicero. 

The King's Speech has always been considered by the 
legislature, and by the public at large, as the Speech of the 

467 



468 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

Minister. It has regularly, at the beg-inning of every session 
of parliament, been referred by both houses to the considera- 
tion of a committee, and has been generally canvassed with 
the utmost freedom, when the minister of the crown has been 
obnoxious to the nation. The ministers of this free country, 
conscious of the undoubted privileges of so spirited a people, 
and with the terrors of parliament before their eyes, have 
ever been cautious, no less with regard to the matter, than 
to the expressions, of speeches, which they have advised the 
sovereign to make from the throne, at the opening of every 
session. They well knew that an honest house of parliament, 
true to their trust, could not fail to detect the fallacious arts, 
or to remonstrate against the daring acts of violence, com- 
mitted by any minister. The speech at the close of the ses^ 
sion has ever been considered as the most secure method of 
promulgating the favourite court creed among the vulgar; 
because the parliament, which is the constitutional guardian 
of the liberties of the people, has in this case no opportunity 
of remonstrating, or of impeaching any wicked servant of 
the crown. 

This week has given the public the most abandoned in- 
stance of ministerial effrontery ever attempted to be im- 
posed on mankind. The minister's speech of last Tuesday, 
is not to be parralleled in the annals of this country. I am 
in doubt, whether the imposition is greater on the sovereign, 
or on the nation. Every friend of his country must lament 
that a prince of so many great and amiable qualities, whom 
England truly reveres, can be brought to give the sanction 
of his sacred name to the most odious measures, and to the 
most unjustifiable, public declarations, from a throne ever 
renowned for truth, honour, and unsullied virtue. I am sure, 
all foreigners, especially the king of Prussia, will hold the 
minister in contempt and abhorrence. He has made our 
sovereign declare. My expectations have been fully answered 
by the happy effects which the several allies of my crown 
have derived from this salutary measure of the definitive 
Treaty. The powers at war with my good brother, the King 
of Prussia, have been induced to agree to such terms of 
accomodation, as that great prince has approved; and the 
success which has attended my negociation, has necessarily 
and immediately diffused the blessings of peace through 
every part of Europe. The infamous fallacy of this whole 
sentence is apparent to all mankind : for it is known, that the 
King of Prussia did not barely approve, but absolutely die- 



JOHN WILKES 469 

tated, as conqueror, every article of the terms of peace. No 
advantage of any kind has accrued to that magnanimous 
prince from our ncgociations, but he was basely deserted by 
the Scottish prime-minister of England. He was known by 
every court in Europe to be scarcely on better terms of friend- 
ship here, than at P^'icniia; and he was betrayed by us in the 
treaty of peace. What a strain of insolence, therefore, is 
it in a minister to lay claim to what he is conscious all his 
efforts tended to prevent, and meanly to arrogate to himself 
a share in the fame and glory of one of the greatest princes 
the world has ever seen ? The king of Prussia, however, 
has gloriously kept all his former conquests, and stipulated 
security for all his allies, even for the elector of Hanover. 
I know in what light this great prince is considered in 
Europe, and in what manner he has been treated here ; among 
other reasons, perhaps, from some contemptuous expressions 
he may have used of the Scot: expressions which are every 
day echoed by the whole body of Englishmen through the 
southern part of this island. 

The Preliminary Articles of Peace were such as have 
drawn the contempt of mankind on our wretched negocia- 
tors. All our most valuable conquests were agreed to be 
restored, and the East India Company would have been in- 
fallibly ruined by a single article of this fallacious and bane- 
ful negociation. No hireling of the minister has been hardy 
enough to dispute this; yet the minister himself has made 
our sovereign declare, the satisfaction zvhich he felt at the 
approaching re-establishment of peace upon conditions so 
honourable to his crown, and so beneficial to his people. As 
to the entire approbation of parliament, which is so vainly 
boasted of, the world knows how that was obtained. The 
large debt on the Civil List, already above half a year in 
arrear, shews pretty clearly the transactions of the winter. 
It is, however, remarkable, that the minister's speeche dwells 
on the entire approbation given by parliament to the Prelim- 
inary Articles, which I will venture to say, he must by this 
time be ashamed of; for he has been brought to confess the 
total want of that knowledge, accuracy and precision, by 
which such immense advantages both of trade and territory, 
were sacrificed to our inveterate enemies. These gross 
blunders are, indeed, in some measure set right by the De- 
finitive Treaty; yet, the most important articles, relative to 
cessions, commerce, and the Fishery, remain as they were, 
with respect to the French. The proud and feeble Spaniard, 



47P SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

too, does not renounce, but only desists from all pretensions, 
which he may have formed, to the right of fishing — where ? 
only about the island of Newfoundland — till a favourable 
opportunity arises of insisting on it, there, as zvell as else- 
where. 

The minister cannot forbear, even in the King's Speech, 
insulting us with a dull repetition of the word (economy. I 
did not expect so soon to have seen that word again, after 
it had been so lately exploded, and more than once, by a most 
numerous audience, hissed off the stage of our English the- 
atres. It is held in derision by the voice of the people, and 
every tongue loudly proclaims the universal contempt, in 
which these empty professions are held by this nation. Let 
the public be informed of a single instance of occonomy, 
except indeed in the household. Is a regiment, which was 
compleated as to its compliment of officers on the Tuesday, 
and broke on the Thursday, 2l proof of occonomy f Is the 
pay of the Scottish Master Elliot to be voted by an English 
parliament, under the head of occonomy f Is this, among 
a thousand others, one of the convincing proofs of a firm 
resolution to form government on a plan of strict oeconomyf 
Is it not notorious, that in the reduction of the army, not the 
least attention has been paid to it ? Many unnecessary ex- 
penses have been incurred, only to increase the power of the 
crown, that is, to create more lucrative jobbs for the crea- 
tures of the minister. The staff indeed is broke, but the 
discerning part of mankind immediately comprehended the 
mean subterfuge, and resented the indignity put upon so 
brave an officer, as marshal Ligonier. That step was taken 
to give the whole power of the army to the crown, that is, to 
the minister. Lord Ligonier is now no longer at the head 
of the army; but Lord Bute in effect is: I mean that every 
preferment given by the crown will be found still to be ob- 
tained by his enormous influence, and to be bestowed only 
on the creatures of the Scottish faction. The nation is still 
in the same deplorable state, while he governs, and can make 
the tools of his power pursue the same odious measure. 
Such a retreat, as he intends, can only mean that personal in- 
demnity, which, I hope, guilt will never find from an injured 
nation. The negociations of the late inglorious peace, and the 
excise, will haunt him, wherever he goes, and the terrors of 
the just resentment, which he must be to meet from a brave 
and insulted people, and which must finally crush him, will 
be for ever before his eyes. 



JOHN WILKES 471 

In vain will such a minister, or the foul dregs of his 
power, the tools of corruption and despotism, preach up in 
the speech that spirit of concord, and that obedience to the 
laws, which is essential to good order. They have sent the 
spirit of discord through the land, and I will prophecy, that 
it will never be extinguished, but by the extinction of their 
power. Is the spirit of concord to go hand in hand with the 
Peace and Excise thro' this nation? Is it to be expected 
between an insolent Exciseman, and a peer, gentleman, free- 
holder, or farmer, whose private houses are now made liable 
to be entered and searched at pleasure? Gloucestershire, 
Herefordshire, and in general all the Cyder countries, are 
not surely the several counties which are alluded to in the 
speech. The spirit of concord hath not gone forth among 
them ; but the spirit of liberty has, and a noble opposition has 
been given to the wicked instruments of oppression. A na- 
tion as sensible as the English, will see that a spirit of con- 
cord, when they are oppressed, means a tame submission to 
injury, and that a spirit of liberty ought then to arise, and I 
am sure ever will, in proportion to the weight of the griev- 
ance they feel. Every legal attempt of a contrary tendency 
to the spirit of concord will be deemed a justifiable resistance, 
warranted by the spirit of the English constitution. 

A despotic minister will always endeavour to dazzle his 
prince with high-flown ideas of the prerogative and honour 
of the crozvn, which the minister will make a parade of 
firmly maintaining. I wish as much as any man in the 
kingdom to see the honour of the crown maintained in a 
manner truly becoming to Royalty. I lament to see it sunk 
even to prostitution. What a shame was it to see the security 
of this country, in point of military force complimented away, 
contrary to the opinion of Royalty itself, and sacrificed to 
the prejudices and to the ignorance of a set of people, the 
most unfit from every consideration to be consulted on a 
matter relative to the security of the house of Hanover? T 
wish to see the honour of the crown religiously asserted with 
regard to our allies, and the dignity of it scrupulously main- 
tained with regard to foreign princes. Is it possible such an 
indignity can have happened, such a sacrifice of the honour 
of the crown of England, as that a minister should already 
have kissed his majesty's hand on being appointed to the 
most insolent and ungrateful court in the world, without a 
previous assurance of that reciprocal nomination which the 
meanest court in Europe would insist upon, before she pro- 



472 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

ceeded to an act otherwise so derogatory to her honour? 
But Electoral Policy has ever been obsequious to the court of 
Vienna, and forgets the insolence with which count Colloredo 
left England. Upon a principle of dignity and oeconomy, 
lord Stermont, a Scottish peer of the loyal house of Murray, 
kissed his Majesty's hand I think on Wednesday in the Easter 
week; but this ignominious act has not yet disgraced the 
nation in the London Gazette. The ministry are not ashamed 
of doing the thing in private; they are only afraid of the 
publication. Was it a tender regard for the honour of the 
late king, or of his present majesty, that invited to court lord 
George Sackville, in these first days of Peace, to share in the 
general satisfaction, which all good courtiers received in the 
indignity offered to lord Ligonier, and on the advancement 
of — ? Was this to show princely gratitude to the eminent 
services of the accomplished general of the house of Bruns- 
wic, who has had so great a share in rescuing Europe from 
the yoke of France; and whose nephew we hope soon to see 
made happy in the possession of the most amiable princess in 
the world ? Or, is it meant to assert the honour of the crown 
only against the united wishes of a loyal and affectionate 
people, founded in a happy experience of the talents, integ- 
rity, and virtue of those, who have had the glory of redeem- 
ing their country from bondage and ruin, in order to support, 
by every art of corruption and intimidation, a weak dis- 
jointed, incapable set of — I will call them any thing but 
ministers — by whom the Favourite still meditates to rule 
this kingdom with a rod of iron. 

The Stuart line has ever been intoxicated with the slavish 
doctrines of the absolute, independent, unlimited power of 
the crown. Some of that line were so weakly advised, as to 
endeavour to reduce them into practice; but the English 
nation was too spirited to suffer the least encroachment on 
the ancient liberties of this kingdom. The King of England 
is only the first magistrate of this country ; but is invested by 
law with the whole executive power. He is, however, re- 
sponsible to his people for the due execution of the royal 
functions, in the choice of ministers, etc., equally with the 
meanest of his subjects in his particular duty. The personal 
character of our present amiable sovereign makes us easy 
and happy that so great a power is lodged in such hands; but 
the favourite has given too just cause for him to escape the 
general odium. The prerogative of the crown is to exert the 
constitutional powers entrusted to it in a way, not of blind 



JOHN WILKES 473 

favour and partiality, but of wisdom and judgment. This is 
the spirit of our constitution. The people too have their 
prerogative, and I hope, the fine words of Dryden will be 
engraven on our hearts : 

Freedom is the English subject's Prerogative. 

(The North Briton, ed. Wilkes, Churchill and others, Lond., 1772, No. 45.) 



CHAPTER XXVIII 



AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 



202. The Question of Taxation 



Grenville 



The American Colonies, in their opposition to taxation without 
representation, gave much opportunity for parliamentary elo- 
quence. The resulting speeches so well epitomise the contend- 
ing opinions of the statesmen of England upon the current 
question, that four of them have been selected to place before the 
reader the views held by the English nation at large. The first 
of these speeches was delivered by Mr. George Grenville, who 
had recently been Premier. Only a brief extract has been 
given, but that contains the main argument of those who fa- 
voured taxation. 

I cannot understand the difference betv^^een external and 
internal taxes. They are the same in effect, and differ only 
in name. That this kingdom has the sovereign, the supreme 
legislative poM^er over America is granted; it cannot be de- 
nied; and taxation is a part of that sovereign power. It is 
one branch of the legislation. It is, it has been, exercised 
over those v^ho are not, who were never represented. It is 
exercised over the India Company, the merchants of London, 
the proprietors of the stocks, and over many great manufac- 
turing towns. It was exercised over the county palatine of 
Chester and the bishopric of Durham, before they sent any 
representatives to Parliament. I appeal for proof to the 
preambles of the Acts which gave them representatives: one 
in the reign of Henry VIII, the other in that of Charles II. 
When I proposed to tax America, I asked the House if any 
gentleman would object to the right; I repeatedly asked it, 
and no man would attempt to deny it. Protection and obe- 
dience are reciprocal. Great Britain protects America; 
America is bound to yield obedience. If not, tell me when the 
Americans were emancipated? When they want the protec- 
tion of this kingdom they are always very ready to ask for it. 
That protection has always been afforded them in the most 

4.74 



AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 475 

full and ample manner. The nation has run herself into an 
immense debt to give them their protection ; and now, when 
they are called upon to contribute a small share toward the 
public expense — an expense arising from themselves — they 
renounce your authority, insult your officers, and break out 
— I might almost say — into open rebellion. The seditious 
spirit of the colonies owes its birth to the factions in this 
House. Gentlemen are careless of the consequences of what 
they say, provided it answers the purposes of opposition. 
We were told we trod on tender ground. We were bid to 
expect disobedience. What is this but telling the Americans 
to stand out against the law, to encourage their obstinacy 
with the expectation of support from hence ? "Let us only 
hold out a little," they would say; "our friends will soon be 
in power." Ungrateful people of America ! Bounties have 
been extended to them. When I had the honour of serving 
the Crown, while you yourselves were loaded with an enor- 
mous debt you gave bounties on their lumber, on their iron, 
their hemp, and many other articles. You have relaxed in 
their favour the Act of Navigation, that palladium of the 
British commerce ; and yet I have been abused in all the 
public papers as an enemy to the trade of America. I have 
been particularly charged with giving orders and instruc- 
tions to prevent the Spanish trade, and thereby stopping the 
ckannel by which alone North America used to be supplied 
with cash for remittances to this country. I defy any man 
to produce any such orders or instructions. I discouraged 
no trade but what was illicit, what was prohibited by an Act 
of Parliament. I desire a West India merchant, well known 
in the city, a gentleman of character, may be examined. He 
will tell you that I offered to do everything in my power to 
advance the trade of America. I was above giving an answer 
to anonymous calumnies; but in this place it becomes one to 
wipe off the aspersion. 

{British Orations, ed, C. K. Adams, N. Y., 1897. L, 106.) 

203. The Policy of Conciliation 

Chatham 

Lord Chatham was a consistent upholder of tlie rights of the 
American Colonies in their contention with Parliament. No one 
saw more clearly than he the possible consequences of persistence 
in oppression, and in his most famous speech on the subject, 
from which we have quoted a portion, he well sets forth the 
grievances of the Americans. 

The gentleman asks, when were the colonies emancipated ' 



476 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

I desire to know, when were they made slaves ? But I dwell 
not upon words. When I had the honour of serving his 
Majesty, I availed myself of the means of information which 
I derived from my office. I speak, therefore, from knowl- 
edge. My materials were good. I was at pains to collect, 
to digest, to consider them; and I will be bold to affirm that 
the profits to Great Britain from the trade of the colonies, 
through all its branches, is two millions a year. This is the 
fund that carried you triumphantly through the last war. 
The estates that were rented at two thousand pounds a year, 
threescore years ago,are at three thousand at present. Those 
estates sold then from fifteen to eighteen years' purchase; the 
same may now be sold for thirty. You owe this to America. 
This is the price America pays you for her protection. And 
shall a miserable financier come with a boast that he can 
bring "a pepper-corn" into the exchequer by the loss of 
millions to the nation? I dare not say how much higher 
these profits may be augmented. Omitting the immense in- 
crease of people, by natural population, in the northern colo- 
nies, and the emigration from every part of Europe, I am 
convinced on other grounds that the commercial system of 
America may be altered to advantage. You have prohibited 
where you ought to have encouraged. You have encouraged 
where you ought to have prohibited. Improper restraints 
have been laid on the continent in favour of the islands. You 
have but two nations to trade with in America. Would you 
had twenty ! Let acts of Parliament in consequence of 
treaties remain ; but let not an English minister become a 
custom-house officer for Spain, or for any foreign power. 
Much is wrong ! Much may be amended for the general 
good of the whole . . . 

A great deal has been said without doors of the power, of 
the strength of America. It is a topic that ought to be cau- 
tiously meddled with. In a good cause, on a sound bottom, 
the force of this country can crush America to atoms. I know 
the valour of your troops. I know the skill of your officers. 
There is not a company of foot that has served in America, 
out of which you may not pick a man of sufficient knowledge 
and experience to make a governor of a colony there. But 
on this ground, on the Stamp Act, which so many here will 
think a crying injustice, I am one who will lift up my hands 
against it. 

In such a cause, your success would be hazardous- 
America, if she fell, would fall like the strong man; she 



AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 477 

would embrace the pillars of the State, and pull down the 
Constitution along with her. Is this your boasted peace — 
not to sheathe the sword in its scabbard, but to sheathe it in 
the bowels of your countrymen ? Will you quarrel with 
yourselves, now the whole house of Bourbon is united against 
you : while France disturbs your fisheries in Newfoundland, 
embarrasses your slave trade to Africa, and withholds from 
your subjects in Canada their property stipulated by treaty : 
while the ransom for the Manillas is denied by Spain, and 
its gallant conqueror basely traduced into a mean plunderer ; 
a gentleman whose noble and generous spirit would do honour 
to the proudest grandee of the country? The Americans 
have not acted in all things with prudence and temper ; they 
have been wronged ; they have been driven to madness by 
injustice. Will you punish them for the madness you have 
occasioned ? Rather let prudence and temper come first 
from this side. I will undertake for America that she will 
follow the example. There are two lines in a ballad of 
Prior's, of a man's behaviour to his wife, so applicable to you 
and your colonies that I cannot help repeating them : 

" Be to her faults a little blind ; 
Be to her virtues very kind." 

Upon the whole, I will beg leave to tell the House what is 
my opinion. It is, that the Stamp Act be repealed absolutely, 
totally, and immediately. That the reason for the repeal be 
assigned, namely, becatise it was founded on an erroneous 
principle. At the same time, let the sovereign authority of 
this country over the colonies be asserted in as strong terms 
as can be devised, and be made to extend to every point of 
legislation whatsoever; that we may bind their trade, confine 
their manufacttires, and exercise every power whatsoever, 
except that of taking their money out of their pockets with- 
out their consent. 

i^British Orations, ed. cit., I, 113.) 

204. The Right to Tax 

Mansfield 

In the speech from which the following selections have been 
made, Lord Mansfield delivered a most able argument upon the 
purely legal aspect of the question of taxing the colonies. The 
speech was declared by one of his opponents to be absolutely un- 
controvertible as an argument on the law of the question at 
issue. 

There can be no doubt, my Lords, but that the inhabitants 



478- SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

of the colonies are as much represented in Parliament as the 
greatest part of the people of England are represented; 
among nine millions of whom there are eight which have no 
votes in electing members of Parliament. Every objection, 
therefore, to the dependency of the colonies upon Parliament, 
which arises to it upon the ground of representation, goes to 
the whole present Constitution of Great Britain, and I sup- 
pose it is not meant to new-model that too. People may 
form speculative ideas of perfection, and indulge their own 
fancies or those of other men. Every man in this country 
has his particular notion of liberty; but perfection never did, 
and never can, exist in any human institution. To what pur- 
pose, then, are arguments drawn from a distinction — in 
which there is no real difference — of a virtual and actual 
representation? A member of Parliament, chosen for any 
borough, represents not only the inhabitants and constituents 
of that particular place, but he represents the inhabitants of 
every other borough in Great Britain. He represents the 
city of London and all the other commons of this land, and 
the inhabitants of all the colonies and dominions of Great 
Britain ; and is, in duty and conscience, bound to take care of 
their interests. 

I have mentioned the customs and the post tax. This 
leads me to answer another distinction, as false as the above : 
the distinction of internal and external taxes. The noble 
Lord who quoted so much law and denied upon those grounds 
the right of the Parliament of Great Britain to lay internal 
taxes upon the colonies, allowed at the same time that restric- 
tions upon trade and duties upon the ports were legal. But 
I cannot see a real difference in this distinction ; for I hold 
it to be true that a tax laid in any place is like a pebble fall- 
ing into and making a circle in a lake, till one circle produces 
and gives motion to another and the whole circumference is 
agitated from the centre. For nothing can be more clear 
than that a tax of ten or twenty per cent, laid upon tobacco, 
either in the ports of Virginia or London, is a duty laid upon 
the inland plantations of Virginia, a hundred miles from the 
sea, wheresoever the tobacco grows. 

I do not deny but that a tax may be laid injudiciously and 
injuriously, and that people in such a case may have a right 
to complain. But the nature of the tax is not now the ques- 
tion ; whenever it comes to be one, I am for lenity. I would 
have no blood drawn. There is, I am satisfied, no occasion 
for any to be drawn. A little time and experience of the in- 



Ij 



AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 479 

conveniences and miseries of anarchy may bring people to 
their senses . . . 

I am far from bearing any ill-will to the Americans; they 
are a very good people, and I have long known them. I began 
life with them, and owe much to them, having been much 
concerned in the plantation causes before the Privy Council ; 
and so I became a good deal acquainted with American 
affairs and people. I dare say their heat will soon be over, 
when they come to feel a little the consequences of their 
opposition to the Legislature. Anarchy always cures itself; 
but the ferment will continue so much the longer while hot- 
headed men there find that there are persons of weight and 
character to support and justify them here. 

Indeed, if the disturbances should continue for a great 
length of time, force must be the consequence, an application 
adequate to the mischief and arising out of the necessity of 
the case; for force is only the difference between a superior 
and subordinate jurisdiction. In the former the whole force 
of the Legislature resides collectively, and when it ceases to 
reside the whole connection is dissolved. It will, indeed, be 
to very little purpose that we sit here enacting laws and 
making resolutions, if the inferior will not obey them, or if 
we neither can nor dare enforce them ; for then — and then, 
I say, of necessity — the matter comes to the sword. If the 
offspring are grown too big and too resolute to obey the 
parent, you must try which is the strongest, and exert all the 
powers of the mother country to decide the contest. 

I am satisfied, notwithstanding, that time, and a wise and 
steady conduct, may prevent those extremities which would 
be fatal to both. I remember well v/hen it was the violent 
humour of the times to decry standing armies and garrisons 
as dangerous and incompatible with the liberty of the subject. 
Nothing would do but a regular militia. The militia are 
embodied ; they march ; and no sooner was the militia law 
thus put into execution, but it was then said to be an intoler- 
able burden upon the subject, and that it would fall, sooner 
or later, into the hands of the Crown. That was the lan- 
guage, and many counties petitioned against it. This may 
be the case with the colonies. In many places they begin 
already to feel the effects of their resistance to government. 
Interest very soon divides mercantile people ; and. although 
there may be some mad, enthusiastic, or ill-designing people 
in the colonies, yet I am convinced that the greatest bulk, 
who have understanding and property, are still well affected 



48o SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

to the mother country. You have, my Lords, many friends 
still in the colonies; and take care that you do not, by ab- 
dicating your own authority, desert them and yourselves, and 
lose them forever . . . 

But, my Lords, I shall make this application of it. You 
may abdicate your right over the colonies. Take care, my 
Lords, how you do so; for such an act will be irrevocable. 
Proceed, then, my Lords, with spirit and firmness ; and when 
you shall have established your authority, it will then be a 
time to show your lenity. The Americans, as I said before, 
are a very good people, and I wish them exceedingly well ; 
but they are heated and inflamed. The noble Lord who 
spoke before ended with a prayer. I cannot end better than 
by saying to it. Amen; and in the words of Maurice, Prince 
of Orange, concerning the Hollanders, "God bless this in- 
dustrious, frugal, and well-meaning, but easily deluded 
people !" 

{British Orations, ed. cit., I, i6i.) 

205. The Character of the Colonists 

Bierke 

The great Irish orator, Edmund Burke, was a warm advocate 
of the American cause. In his most noted speech on the sub- 
ject, he voiced the opinion general in England, though not in 
Parliament, that the love of liberty would call the colonists to 
great deeds if they were driven to desperation. His words form 
a just and comprehensive summing-up of the judgment of the 
most intelligent Englishmen of that day. 

But there is still behind a third consideration concerning 
this object, which serves to determine my opinion on the sort 
of policy which ought to be pursued in the management of 
America, even more than its population and its commerce — 
I mean its character and temper. In this character of the 
Americans a love of freedom is the predominating feature, 
which marks and distinguishes the whole; and, as an ardent 
is always a jealous affection, your colonies become suspi- 
cious, restive, and untractable, whenever they see the least 
attempt to wrest from them by force, or shuffle from them by 
chicane, what they think the only advantage worth living for. 
This fierce spirit of liberty is stronger in the English colo- 
nies, probably, than in any other people of the earth; and 
this from a variety of powerful causes, which, to understand 
the true temper of their minds and the direction which this 
spirit takes, it will not be amiss to lay open somewhat more 
largely. 



AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 4S1 

First, the people of the colonies are descendants of 
Englishmen. England, sir, is a nation which still, I hope, 
respects, and formerly adored, her freedom. The colonists 
emigrated from you when this part of your character was 
most predominant ; and they took this bias and direction the 
moment they parted from your hands. They are, therefore, 
not only devoted to liberty, but to liberty according to 
English ideas and on English principles. Abstract liberty, 
like many other abstractions, is not to be found. Liberty in- 
heres in some sensible object; and every nation has formed to 
itself some favourite point which, by way of eminence, becomes 
the criterion of their happiness. It happened, you know, sir, 
that the great contests for freedom in this country were from 
the earliest times chiefly upon the question of taxation. 
Most of the contests in the ancient commonwealths turned 
primarily on the right of election of magistrates, or on the 
balance among the several orders of the State. The question 
of money was not with them so immediate. But in England 
it was otherwise. On this point of taxes the ablest pens and 
most eloquent tongues have been exercised, the greatest 
spirits have acted and suffered. In order to give the fullest 
satisfaction concerning the importance of this point, it was 
not only necessary for those who in argument defended the 
excellence of the English Constitution to insist on this priv- 
ilege of granting money as a dry point of fact, and to prove 
that the right had been acknowledged in ancient parchments 
and blind usages to reside in a certain body called the House 
of Commons ; they went much further. They attempted to 
prove — and they succeeded — that in theory it ought to be 
so, from the particular nature of a House of Commons as an 
immediate representative of the people, whether the old 
records had delivered this oracle or not. They took infinite 
pains to inculcate, as a fundamental principle, that in all 
monarchies the people must in effect themselves, mediately 
or immediately, possess the power of granting their own 
money, or no shadow of liberty could subsist. The colonies 
draw from you, as with their life-blood, those ideas and prin- 
ciples. Their love of liberty, as with you, fixed and attached 
on this specific point of taxing. Liberty might be safe or 
might be endangered in twenty other particulars, without 
their being much pleased or alarmed. Here they felt its 
pulse ; and as they found that beat, they thought themselves 
sick or sound. I do not say whether they were right or 
wrong in applying your general arguments to their own case. 



482 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

It is not easy, indeed, to make a monopoly of theorems and 
corollaries. The fact is that they did thus apply those gen- 
eral arguments; and your mode of governing them, whether 
through lenity or indolence, through wisdom or mistake, con- 
firmed them in the imagination that they, as well as you, had 
an interest in these common principles. 

They were further confirmed in these pleasing errors by 
the form of their provincial legislative assemblies. Their 
governments are popular to a high degree ; some are merely 
popular; in all, the popular representative is the most 
weighty; and this share of the people in their ordinary gov- 
ernment never fails to inspire them with lofty sentiments and 
with a strong aversion from whatever tends to deprive them 
of their chief importance . . . 

Sir, I can perceive from their manner that some gentlemen 
object to the latitude of this description, because in the 
southern colonies the Church of England forms a large body 
and has a regular establishment. It is certainly true. There 
is, however, a circumstance attending these colonies which, 
in my opinion, fully cotinterbalances this difference and 
makes the spirit of liberty still more high and haughty than 
in those to the northward. It is that in Virginia and the 
Carolinas they have a vast multitude of slaves. Where this 
is the case in any part of the world, those who are free are 
by far the most proud and jealous of their freedom. Free- 
dom is to them not only an enjoyment, but a kind of rank 
and privilege. Not seeing there that freedom, as in countries 
where it is a common blessing and as broad and general as 
the air, may be united with much abject toil, with great 
misery, with all the exterior of servitude, liberty looks, among 
them, like something that is more noble and liberal. I do not 
mean, sir, to commend the superior morality of this senti- 
ment, which has at least as much pride as virtue in it; but I 
cannot alter the nature of man. The fact is so; and these 
people of the southern colonies are much more strongly, and 
with a higher and more stubborn spirit, attached to liberty 
than those to the northward. Such were all the ancient com- 
monwealths ; such were our Gothic ancestors ; such, in our 
days, were the Poles; and such will be all masters of slaves 
who are not slaves themselves. In such a people the haughti- 
ness of domination combines with the spirit of freedom, for- 
tifies it, and renders it invincible. 

{British Orations, ed. cit., I, 210. 



CHAPTER XXIX 

UNION BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND 
206. The Union Advocated 

Castlereagh 

The influence of Lord Castlereagh had much to do with ef- 
fecting the union. Castlereagh and Flood were probably the 
best hated men in Ireland, being looked upon as traitors, but 
they exercised a power which was undiminished by any personal 
scruples. That their cause prevailed was owing neither to its 
popularity nor its justice, but to the methods employed by its 
advocates and the English Government. 

It is said, that an union will reduce Ireland to the abject 
state of a colony. Is it by making her a constituent part of 
the greatest and first empire in the world? For my part, if 
I were to describe a colony, I should picture a country in a 
situation somewhat similar to the present state of Ireland. 
I should describe a country, whose crown was dependent on 
that of another country, enjoying a local legislature, but 
without any power intrusted to that legislature of regulating 
the succession of that crown. I should describe it as having 
an executive power administered by the orders of a non- 
resident minister, irresponsible to the colony for his acts or 
his advice; I should describe it as incapable of passing the 
most insignificant law without the licence of the minister of 
another country; I should describe it as a country unknown 
to foreign nations in the quality of an independent state, and 
as subject to another power with regard to all the questions 
which concern alliances, the declaration and conduct of war, 
or the negotiations for peace. 

Another objection has been started, that an imperial parlia- 
ment cannot be possessed of such local knowledge of the 
kingdom as is necessary for the due encouragement of its 
interests. But I ask, what is there to prevent the representa- 
tives of Ireland from carrying with them to the imperial 
parliament all their local knowledge of the wants and inter- 
ests of Ireland? And what is there to prevent an imperial 

483 



484 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

parliament from attending as anxiously to the concerns of 
this part of the empire, as to the concerns of the west of Eng- 
land, or the affairs of Scotland ? 

It has also been asserted, that an union would have the 
effect of weakening the executive power in Ireland. Con- 
vinced as I am, that Ireland cannot exist without a strong ex- 
ecutive power, and that the lives and properties of its loyal in- 
habitants cannot be otherwise secured, I could not argue in 
favour of the advantages which are promised by this measure, 
were it to be followed by such a consequence. But I am so 
confident of the opposite effect, that it is upon this very prin- 
ciple of giving new vigor to the executive power, and of 
giving additional security to the persons and properties of 
the inhabitants, that I embrace the measure. It is an union 
alone that can give us strength, by removing the cause of our 
weakness. It will take away from the executive power all 
those jealousies, which hang upon its motions and prevent 
its constitutional effects : it will preclude the plausible in- 
sinuation, that we are governed by the influence of a parlia- 
ment in which we are not represented; that we are directed 
by the counsels of ministers who are irresponsible ; that our 
interests are sacrificed to those of Great Britain; in short, it 
will remove all those constitutional awkwardnesses and 
anomalies which render all the exertions of the executive 
power suspected and inefficient, and, by rendering it un- 
popular, diminish and counteract its influence. 

There is another objection, which has been strongly urged 
and plausibly supported. It is this — that our parliament 
has, from the circumstance of its being local, been able to 
make exertions for suppressing the rebellion, which an im- 
perial parliament would not have attempted. I most cordially 
admit, that the Irish parliament has most materially assisted 
the government by arming it with those ample powers which 
have been employed to suppress the rebellion. But, if it was 
parliament that gave the powers, it was the cabinet that em- 
ployed them. And I ask, by what constitutional scruples 
would an imperial parliament be prevented from giving the 
same powers in similar circumstances, or the ministers of the 
empire be arrested in the exercise of them ? And is it agree- 
able to common sense, or truth, that the acts of the parlia- 
ment of the empire would have less authority than the acts 
of only a part of the empire? 

It has also been said, that a local parliament alone could 
have traced and developed the conspiracy which produced 



GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND 48S 

the late rebellion. Here is a mistake in point of fact. It 
was not the local parliament, but the executive government 
which discovered the conspiracy. It was the government 
that detected the plans of the traitors ; and it was upon the 
documents produced by the government that the accurate 
report of the secret committee was formed. The merits of 
the report in disclosing the information as a warning to the 
public, after the treason was detected and defeated, may be 
ascribed to the parliament; but the discovery of the con- 
spiracy, and the suppression of the rebellion, arose from the 
energies of the executive government . . . 

Having now gone through the outline of the plan with as 
much conciseness as possible, I trust I have proved to every 
man who hears me, that the proposal is such an one as is at 
once honourable for Great Britain to offer, and for Ireland 
to accept. It is one which will entirely remove from the 
executive power those anomalies which are the perpetual 
sources of jealousy and discontent. It is one which will 
relieve the apprehensions of those who feared that Ireland 
was, in consequence of an union, to be burthened with the 
debt of Britain. It is one which, by establishing a fair prin- 
ciple of contribution, tends to release Ireland from an ex- 
pence of one million in time of war, and of £500,000 in time 
of peace. It is one which increases the resources of our 
commerce, protects our manufactures, secures to us the 
British market, and encourages all the produce of our soil. 
It is one that, by uniting the ecclesiastical establishments, 
and consolidating the legislatures of the empire, puts an end 
to religious jealousy, and removes the possibility of separa- 
tion. It is one that places the great question, which has so 
long agitated the country, upon the broad principles of im- 
perial policy, and divests it of all its local difficulties. It is 
one that establishes such a representation of the country, as 
must lay asleep for ever the question of parliamentary re- 
forms, which, combined with our religious divisions, has 
produced all our distractions and calamities. 

(^History o^ ^he Union bettveen Great Britain afid Ireland, 
C. Coote, Lond., 1802. p. 339.) 

207. Grattan Opposes the Union 

Grattan 

The projected union of Ireland with Great Britain provoked 
bitter hostility in the former country. The adherents of the 
measure were made the objects of scathing invective by the 
press and their parliamentary opponents. Of those who most 



4B6 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

strenuously fought the union, none stands higher than Henry 
Grattan, a portion of whose finest speech in opposition to the 
measure is given below. 

I have done v^ith the pile which the minister batters — I 
come to the Babel which he builds — and, as he throws down 
without a principle, so does he construct without a founda- 
tion. This fabric he calls an union; and to this his fabric 
there are two striking objections. First, it is no union — it 
is not an identification of the people, for it excludes the cath- 
olics : 2dly, It is a consolidation of the legislatures ; that is 
to say, it merges the Irish parliament, and incurs every ob- 
jection to an union, without obtaining the only object which 
an union professes : it is an extinction of the constitution, 
and an exclusion of the people. I say, he excludes the cath- 
olics for ever, and for the very reason which he and his ad- 
vocates hold out as the ground of expectation — that here- 
after, in a course of time (he does not say when), if they 
behave themselves (he does not say how), they may see 
their case submitted to a course of discussion (he does not 
say with what result or determination) ; and, as the ground 
for the inane period, in which he promises nothing, in which 
he can promise nothing, and in which, if he did promise much, 
he would at so remote a period be able to perform nothing, 
unless he, like the evil he has accomplished, be immortal ; — 
for thi3 inate sentence, in which he can scarcely be said to 
deceive the catholic, or suffer the catholic to deceive him- 
self, he exhibits no other ground than the physical inanity of 
the catholic body accomplished by an union, which, as it 
destroys the relative importance of Ireland, destroys also the 
relative proportion of its catholic inhabitants, who thus 
become admissible, because they cease to be any thing. 
Hence, according to him, their brilliant expectation; "you 
were," say his advocates, and so imports his argument, "be- 
fore the union, as three to one — you will be by the union as 
one to four." — Thus he founds their hopes of political power 
on the extinction of physical consequence, and makes the 
inanity of their body and the non-entity of their country the 
pillars of their future ambition. Let me add, that even if 
catholics should be admitted into parliament by the articles 
of union, it would be of little avail to the body. What signi- 
fies it to the body, whether a catholic individual be an in- 
significant unit in the English parliament or in the street; 
in either case he would be nothing — he would belong to 



GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND 487 

nothing — he would have nothing to which he could belong 
— no country — no Irish people — no Irish nation. 

(^History of the Union of the Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland, 
C. Coote, Lond., 1802. p. 322.) 

208. Act of Union between Great Britain and Ireland 

Statutes of the Realm 

The union between Great Britain and Ireland was the result 
of fraud, trickery, and coercion, combined with good intentions 
and upright dealing. The union was not popular at its for- 
mation, nor has it ever become so. The ties existing between 
England and Ireland have from the earliest history of the two 
countries been of the nature of chains. The Irish antagonism 
to England has never faltered, though it has changed in nature 
and expression. Yet the union has been maintained for more 
than a century, and is not likely to become dissolved in the near 
future. 

UNION BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND 
(40 Geo. Ill, c. 67. July 2, 1800) 

AN ACT FOR THE UNION OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND 

(Preamble) 

Article I 

That it be the first article of the Union of the kingdoms 
of Great Britain and Ireland, that the said kingdoms of 
Great Britain and Ireland shall, upon the first day of January 
which shall be in the year of our Lord one thousand eight 
hundred and one, and for ever after, be united into one king- 
dom, by the name of the United Kingdoui of Great Britain 
and Ireland; and that the royal style and titles appertaining to 
the imperial crown of the said united kingdom and its depen- 
dencies; and also the ensigns, armorial flags, and banners 
thereof, shall be such as his Majesty, by his royal proclama- 
tion under the great seal of the united kingdom, shall be 
pleased to appoint. 

Article II 

That it be the second article of Union, that the succession 
to the imperial crown of the said united kingdom, and of the 
dominions thereunto belonging, shall continue limited and 
settled in the same manner as the succession to the imperial 
crown of the said kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland now 
stands limited and settled, according to the existing laws, and 
to the terms of Union between England and Scotland. 



488 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

Article III 

That it be the third article of Union, that the said united 
kingdom be represented in one and the same Parliament, to 
be styled The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great 
Britain and Ireland. 

Article IV 

That it be the fourth article of Union, that four Lords 
Spiritual of Ireland by rotations of sessions, and twenty-eight 
Lords Temporal of Ireland elected for life by the peers of 
Ireland, shall be the number to sit and vote on the part of 
Ireland in the House of Lords of the Parliament of the 
united kingdom; and one hundred commoners (two for each 
county of Ireland, two for the city of Dublin, two for the city 
of Cork, one for the university of Trinity College, and one 
for each of the thirty-one most considerable cities, towns, and 
boroughs) be the number to sit and vote on the part of Ire- 
land in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the 
united kingdom : 

That such Act as shall be passed in the Parliament of Ire- 
land previous to the Union, to regulate the mode by which 
the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, to serve 
in the Parliament of the united kingdom on the part of Ire- 
land, shall be summoned and returned to the said Parliament, 
shall be considered as forming part of the treaty of Union, 
and shall be incorporated in the Act of the respective Parlia- 
ments by which the said Union shall be ratified and estab- 
lished : 

That all questions touching the rotation or election of 
Lords Spiritual or Temporal of Ireland to sit in the Parlia- 
ment of the united kingdom, shall be decided by the House of 
Lords thereof; and whenever, by reason of an equality of 
votes in the election of any such Lords Temporal, a complete 
election shall not be made according to the true intent of this 
article, the names of those peers for whom such equality of 
votes shall be so given, shall be written on pieces of paper of 
a similar form, and shall be put into a glass, by the Clerk 
of the Parliament at the table of the House of Lords whilst 
the House is sitting; and the peer or peers whose name or 
names shall be first drawn out by the Clerk of the Parlia- 
ments, shall be deemed the peer or peers elected, as the case 
may be : 

That any person holding any peerage of Ireland now sub- 
sisting, or hereafter to be created, shall not thereby be dis- 



ORE AT BRITAIN AND IRELAND 489 

qualified from being elected to serve, if he shall so think fit, 
or from serving or continuing to serve, if he shall so think 
fit, for any county, city, or borough of Great Britain, in the 
House of Commons of the united kingdom, unless he shall 
have been previously elected as above, to sit in the House of 
Lords of the united kingdom; but that so long as such peer 
of Ireland shall so continue to be a member of the House of 
Commons, he shall not be entitled to the privilege of peerage, 
nor be capable of being elected to serve as a peer on the part 
of Ireland, or of voting at any such election; and that he 
shall be liable to be sued, indicted, proceeeded against, and 
tried as a conmioner, for any offence with which he may be 
charged : 

That it shall be lawful for his Majesty, his heirs and suc- 
cessors, to create peers of that part of the united kingdom 
called Ireland, and to make promotions in the peerage there- 
of, after the Union; provided that no new creation of any 
such peers shall take place after the Union until three of the 
peerages of Ireland, w'hich shall have been existing at the 
time of the Union, shall have become extinct ; and upon 
such extinction of three peerages, that it shall be lawful for 
his Majesty, his heirs and successors, to create one peer of 
that part of the united kingdom called Ireland ; and in like 
manner as often as three peerages of that part of the united 
kingdom called Ireland shall become extinct, it shall be law- 
ful for his Majesty, his heirs and successors, to create one 
other peer of the said part of the united kingdom; and if it 
shall happen that the peers of that part of the united king- 
dom called Ireland shall, by extinction of peerages or other- 
wise, be reduced to the number of one hundred, exclusive of 
all such peers of that part of the united kingdom called Ire- 
land, as shall hold any peerage of Great Britain subsisting 
at the time of the Union, or of the united kingdom, created 
since the Union, by which such peers shall be entitled to an 
hereditary seat in the House of Lords of the united kingdom, 
then and in that case it shall and may be lawful for his Ma- 
jesty, his heirs and successors, to create one peer of that part 
of the united kingdom called Ireland, as often as any one of 
such hundred peerages shall fail by extinction, or as often as 
any one peer of that part of the united kingdom called Ire- 
land shall become entitled, by descent or creation, to an 
hereditary seat in the House of Lords of the united kingdom ; 
it being the true intent and meaning of this article, that at 
all times after the Union, it shall and may be lawful for his 



490 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

Majesty, his heirs and successors, to keep up the peerage of 
that part of the united kingdom called Ireland to the number 
of one hundred, over and above the number of such of the 
said peers as shall be entitled, by descent or creation, to an 
hereditary seat in the House of Lords of the united kingdom: 

That if any peerage shall at any time be in abeyance, such 
peerage shall be deemed and taken as an existing peerage; 
and no peerage shall be deemed extinct, unless on default of 
claimants to the inheritance of such peerage for the space of 
one year from the death of the person who shall have been 
last possessed thereof; and if no claim shall be made to the 
inheritance of such peerage, in such form and manner as may 
from time to time be prescribed by the House of Lords of the 
united kingdom, before the expiration, of the said period of 
a year, then and in that case such peerage shall be deemed 
extinct; provided that nothing herein shall exclude any per- 
son from afterwards putting in a claim to the peerage so 
deemed extinct; and if such claim shall be allowed as valid, 
by judgment of the House of Lords of the united kingdom, 
reported to his Majesty, such peerage shall be considered as 
revived; and in case any new creation of a peerage of that 
part of the united kingdom called Ireland, shall have taken 
place in the interval, in consequence of the supposed extinc- 
tion of such peerage, then no new right of creation shall ac- 
crue to his Majesty, his heirs or successors, in consequence 
of the next extinction which shall take place of any peerage 
of that part of the united kingdom called Ireland : 

That all questions touching the election of members to sit 
on the part of Ireland in the House of Commons of the 
united kingdom shall be heard and decided in the same man- 
ner as questions touching such elections in Great Britain now 
are, or at any time hereafter shall by law be heard and de- 
cided; subject nevertheless to such particular regulations in 
respect of Ireland as, from local circumstances, the Parlia- 
ment of the united kingdom may from time to time deem ex- 
pedient. 

That the qualifications in respect of property of the 
members elected on the part of Ireland to sit in the House of 
Commons of the united kingdom, shall be respectively the 
same as are now provided by law in the cases of elections for 
counties and cities and boroughs respectively in that part of 
Great Britain called England, unless any other provision 
shall hereafter be made in that respect by Act of Parliament 
of the united kingdom. 



GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND 491 

That when his Majesty, his heirs or successors, shall de- 
clare his, her, or their pleasure for holding the first or any- 
other subsequent Parliament of the united kingdom, a pro- 
clamation shall issue, under the great seal of the united king- 
dom, to cause the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Com- 
mons, who are to serve in the Parliament thereof on the part 
of Ireland, to be returned in such manner as by any Act of 
this present session of Parliament of Ireland shall be pro- 
vided; and that the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Com- 
mons of Great Britain shall, together w^ith the Lords Spir- 
itual and Temporal and Commons so returned as aforesaid 
on the part of Ireland, constitute the two Houses of Parlia- 
ment of the united kingdom : 

(The next clause provides for a temporary personnnel of 
the first Parliament after the Union.) 

That the Lords of Parliament on the part of Ireland, in the 
House of Lords of the united kingdom, shall at all times 
have the same privileges of Parliament which shall belong 
to the Lords of Parliament on the part of Great Britain ; and 
the Lords Spiritual and Temporal respectively on the part of 
Ireland shall at all times have the same rights in respect of 
their sitting and voting upon the trial of peers, as the Lords 
Spiritual and Temporal respectively on the part of Great 
Britain; and that all Lords Spiritual of Ireland shall have 
rank and precedency next and immediately after the Lords 
Spiritual of the same rank and degree of Great Britain, and 
shall enjoy all privileges as fully as the Lords Spiritual of 
Great Britain do now or may herafter enjoy the same (the 
right and privilege of sitting in the House of Lords, and the 
privileges depending thereon, and particulary the right of 
sitting on the trial of peers, excepted) ; and that the persons 
holding any temporal peerages of Ireland, existing at the 
time of the Union, shall, from and after the Union, have 
rank and precedency next and immediately after all the per- 
sons holding peerages of the like orders and degree in Great 
Britain, subsisting at the time of the Union ; and that all 
peerages of Ireland created after the Union shall have rank 
and precedency with the peerages of the united kingdom, so 
created, according to the dates of their creations ; and that 
all peerages both of Great Britain and Ireland, now subsist- 
ing or hereafter to be created, shall in all other respects, from 
the date of the Union, be considered as peerages of the united 
kingdom ; and that the peers of Ireland shall, as peers of the 
united kingdom, be sued and tried as peers, except as afore- 



492 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

said, and shall enjoy all privileges of peers as fully as the 
peers of Great Britain; the right and privilege of sitting in 
the House of Lords, and the privileges depending thereon, 
and the right of sitting on the trial of peers, only excepted: 

Article V 

That it be the fifth article of Union, That the churches of 
England and Ireland,, as now by law established, be united 
into one Protestant Episcopal Church, to be called The 
United Church of England and Ireland; and that the doc- 
trine, worship, discipline, and government of the said united 
church shall be, and shall remain in full force for ever, as 
the same are now by law established for the church of Eng- 
land; and that the continuance and preservation of the said 
united church, as the established church of England and 
Ireland, shall be deemed and taken to be an essential and 
fundamental part of the Union; and that in like manner the 
doctrine, worship, discipline, and government of the church 
of Scotland, shall remain and be preserved as the same are 
now established by law, and by the Acts for the Union of the 
two kingdoms of England and Scotland. 

Article VI 

That it be the sixth article of Union, That his Majesty's 
subjects of Great Britain and Ireland shall, from and after 
the first day of January one thousand eight hundred and 
one, be entitled to the same privileges, and be on the same 
footing, as to encouragements and bounties on the like ar- 
ticles being the growth, produce, or manufacture, of either 
country respectively, and generally in respect of trade and 
navigation in all ports and places in the united kingdom and 
its dependencies ; and that in all treaties made by his Ma- 
jesty, his heirs and successors, with any foreign power, his 
Majesty's subjects of Ireland shall have the same privileges, 
and be on the same footing, as his Majesty's subjects of 
Great Britain: 

(The remaining clauses of this article deal with the duties 
upon articles respectively imported and exported between 
the kingdoms, two schedules being given.) 

Article VII 
(Provides that the interest and sinking fund for the reduc- 
tion of the debt of either kingdom shall continue to be sepa- 



GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND 493 

rately defrayed. Also provides for the expenditures of the 
united kingdom.) 

Article VIII 

(Provides that existing laws and courts of jurisdiction 
within the respective kingdoms may be altered at pleasure of 
the united Parliament. Also provides for appeal.) 

(Evan's Collection of Statutes, ed. cited, VII, 462.) 



n- 



PART VIII 

THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 



495 



CHAPTER XXX 

EMANCIPATION 
209. The *' No-Popery" Riots 



IVraxall 



The movement to relieve the Catholics of some of the dis- 
abilities from which they suffered provoked violent opposition 
at first. Lord George Gordon, a fanatic nobleman, headed an 
agitation which, had it been more ably led. might have worked 
lasting harm to England. As it was, the rioters for a time were 
masters of London, and their excesses alone prevented them 
from inaugurating a revolution, instead of a mere revolt. They 
were finally overcome and dispersed, and Lord George, the 
instigator of the outrages committed, consigned to prison. He 
soon after professed the Jewish faith. He died in prison. 

I was personally present at many of the most tremendous 
effects of the popular fury, on the memorable 7th of June, 
the night on which it attained its highest point. About nine 
o'clock on that evening, accompanied by three other gentle- 
men, who, as well as myself, were alarmed by the accounts 
brought in every moment, of the outrages committed ; and of 
the still greater acts of violence meditated, as soon as dark- 
ness should favour and facilitate their further progress ; we 
set out from Portland-place, in order to view the scene. 
Having got into a hackney-coach, we drove to Bloomsbury- 
square ; attracted to that spot by rumour generally spread, 
that lord Mansfield's residence, situated at the north-east 
corner, w-as either already burnt, or destined to destruction. 
Hart street, and Great Russell street, presented, each, to the 
view as we passed, large fires composed of furniture taken 
from the houses of magistrates, or other obnoxious individ- 
uals. Quitting the coach, we crossed the square and had 
scarcely got under the wall of Bedford House, when we 
heard the door of lord Alansfield's house burst open with 
violence. In a few minutes, all the contents of the apart- 
ments being precipitated from the windows, were piled up, 
and wrapped in flames. A file of foot-soldiers arriving, 
drew up near the blazing pile ; but, without either attempt- 

497 



498 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

ing to quench the fire, or to impede the mob, who were in- 
deed far too numerous to admit of their being dispersed, or 
even intimidated, by a small detachment of infantry. The 
populace remained masters; while we, after surveying the 
spectacle for a short time, moved on into Holborn, where Mr. 
Langdale's dwelling house and warehouse afforded a more 
appalling picture of devastation. They were altogether en- 
veloped in smoke and flame. In front had assembled an 
immense multitude of both sexes, many of whom were fe- 
males, and not a few held infants in their arms. All ap- 
peared to be, like ourselves, attracted as spectators solely by 
curiosity, without taking any part in the acts of violence. 
The kennel of the street ran down with spirituous liquors, and 
numbers of the populace were already intoxicated with the 
beverage. So little disposition, however, did they manifest 
to riot, or pillage, that it would have been difficult to con- 
ceive who were the authors and perpetrators of such enor- 
mous mischief, if we had not distinctly seen at the windows 
of the house, men, who while the floors and rooms were on 
fire, calmly tore down the furniture, and threw it into the 
street, or tossed it into the flames. They experienced no 
kind of opposition, during a considerable time that we re- 
mained at the place ; but a party of the horse guards arriving, 
the terrified crowd instantly began to disperse; and we, 
anxious to gratify our further curiosity, continued our pro- 
gress on foot, along Holborn, towards Fleet Market. 

I would in vain attempt adequately to describe the spec- 
tacle which presented itself, when we reached the declivity 
of the hill, close to St. Andrew's Church. The other house 
and magazines of Mr. Langdale, who, as a Catholic, had been 
selected for the blind vengeance of the mob; situated in the 
hollow, near the north end of Fleet Market, threw up into 
the air a pinnacle of flame resembling a volcano. Such was 
the beautiful and brilliant effect of the allumination, that St. 
Andrew's church appeared to be almost scorched by the heat 
of so prodigious a body of fire; and the figures on the clock 
were as distinctly perceptible as at noon-day. It resembled 
indeed a tower, rather than a private building, in a state of 
conflagation ; and would have inspired the beholder with a 
sentiment of admiration allied to pleasure, if it had been 
possible to separate the object from its causes and its conse- 
quences. The wind did not however augment its rage on 
this occasion; for the night was serene, and the sky un- 
clouded, except when it became obscured by the volumes of 



EMANCIPATION 499 

smoke, which, from time to time produced a temporary dark- 
ness. The mob, which completely blocked up the whole 
street in every part, and in all directions, prevented our ap- 
proaching within fifty or sixty yards of the building, but 
the populace, though still principally composed of persons al- 
lured by curiosity, yet evidently began here to assume a more 
disorderly and ferocious character. Troops, either horse or 
foot, we still saw none ; nor, in the midst of this combinatipn 
of tumult, terror and violence, had the ordinary police ceased 
to continue its functions. 

While we stood by the wall of St. Andrew's churchyard, 
a Watchman, with a lanthorn in his hand, passed us, calling 
the hour, as if in time of profound tranquillity. 

Finding it altogether impracticable to force our way any 
further down Holborn Hill, and hearing that the Fleet Prison 
had been set on fire ; we penetrated through a number of 
narrow lanes, behind St. Ai^drew's church, and presently 
found ourselves in the middle of Fleet Market. Here, the 
same destruction raged, but in a different stage of progress. 
Mr Langdale's houses were already at the height of their 
demolition : the Fleet Prison on the contrary was only be- 
ginning to blaze, and the sparks of flaming particles that 
filled the air, fell so thick upon us on every side, as to render 
unsafe its immediate vicinity, meanwhile we began to hear 
the platoons discharged on the other side of the river, to- 
wards St. George's Fields ; and were informed, that a con- 
siderable number of rioters had been killed on Blackfriars 
Bridge, which w^as occupied by the troops. On approaching 
it, we beheld the King's Bench Prison completely wrapt in 
flames. It exhibited a sublime sight, and we might be said 
there to stand in a central point, from which London offered 
on every side, before, as well as behind us, the picture of a 
city sacked and abandoned to a ferocious enemy. The 
shouts of the populace, the cries of women, the crackling 
of the fires, the blaze reflected in the stream of the Thames, 
and the irregular firing which was kept up both in St. 
George's Fields, as well as towards the quarter of the man- 
sion-house, and the bank ; — all these sounds, or images 
combined, left scarcely any thing for the imagination to sup- 
ply ; presenting to the view every recollection, which the 
classic descriptions in Virgil, or in Tacitus, have impressed 
on the mind in youth, but which I so little expected to see 
exemplified in the capital of Great Britain. 

(Historical Mevioirs of i>:y o7vn Time, by Sir N. W. Wraxall, Phila., 1837 
Part II, li^/f.) 



500 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 



2IO. Speech of King George on Catholic Emancipation 

Annual Register 

For more than a century Catholics had been subjected to many 
disabilities. They were not only excluded from holding civil 
office, but every relation of life was affected. The repressive 
legislation harassed the Catholics in the possession of their 
property, the education of their children, and the exercise of 
their religion. Such an attitude toward Catholic citizens re- 
sulted in agitation looking toward emancipation, a number of 
Protestants joining in the movement. The final conflict with 
intolerance was begun in 1778, with Sir George Saville's measure 
for the relief of Roman Catholics. It was carried on by Pitt, 
Grenville, Grattan, Canning, and other leaders, until in 1829 
came the last struggle, which was to end in Catholic emancipa- 
tion. The necessity of such a measure had been accentuated by 
the condition of Ireland. The King's Address, given below, was 
the first step in the movement of the session. It was a surprise 
and disaster to the intolerant party. It aroused the bitterest 
invective; but the majority, Protestants as well as Catholics, 
welcomed the promise of support which it bore, and v»^hich 
alone their cause had lacked for success. 



My Lords and Gentlemen: 

The state of Ireland has been the object of His Majesty's 
continued solicitude. 

His Majesty laments that in that part of the United King- 
dom an Association should still exist, which is dangerous 
to the public peace, and inconsistent with the spirit of the 
Constitution; which keeps alive discord and ill-will amongst 
His Majesty's subjects; and which must, if permitted to con- 
tinue, effectually obstruct every effort permanently to im- 
prove the condition of Ireland. 

His Majesty confidently relies on the wisdom and on the 
support of his parliament; and His Majesty feels assured 
that you will commit to him such powers that may enable His 
Majesty to maintain his just authority. 

His Majesty recommends that, when his essential object 
shall have been accomplished, you should take into your 
deliberate consideration the whole condition of Ireland, and 
that you should review the laws which impose civil dis- 
abilities on His Majesty's Roman Catholic subjects. 

You will consider whether the removal of these disabilities 
can be effected consistently with the full and permanent 
security of our establishments in church and state, with the 
maintenance of the reformed religion established by law, 
and of the rights and privileges of the bishops and of the 



EMANCIPATION 501 

clergy of this realm, and of the churches committed to their 
charge. 

These are institutions which must ever be held sacred in 
this Protestant kingdom, and which it is the duty and deter- 
mination of his Majesty to preserve inviolate. 

His Majesty most earnestly recommends to you to enter 
upon the consideration of a subject of such paramount im- 
portance, deeply interesting to the best feelings of his people, 
and involving the tranquillity and concord of the United 
Kingdoms, with the temper and the moderation which will 
best ensure the successful issue of your deliberations. 

{Animal Register, 1829, p. v. 71, 5.) 

211. Speech of the Attorney-General against the Catholic 
Emancipation Bill 

Annual Regts.'ei' 

The opponents of the Emancipation Bill were not entirely in- 
fluenced by religious intolerance. The relation of Church and 
State was considered by many a very buckler of English in- 
dependence, and any measure likely to weaken the influence of 
the Church of England was thought by them to be dangerous 
to the welfare of the realm. The following speech, though in- 
temperate in its language, well sums up the main arguments of 
the opponents of the Bill. 

. . . When he, the Attorney-general of the king, was called 
on to frame an act of parliament, it was not unnatural that 
he should look, as a lawyer, to a higher authority than him- 
self, namely the lord Chancellor. How could the Attorney- 
general prepare a bill, which the lord Chancellor had de- 
clared would subvert the Protestant church of England? and 
he thought he was placing himself under a strong shield, 
when he took his position behind the buckler of lord Chancel- 
lor Lyndhurst. "When my attention was drawn to the fram- 
ing of this bill, I felt it my duty to look over the oath taken 
by the lord Chancellor, as well as that taken by the Attorney- 
general ; and it was my judgment, right or wrong, that, when 
desired to frame this bill, I was called to draw a bill sub- 
versive of the Protestant church, which his Majesty was 
bound by his coronation oath to support, li his Majesty 
chose to dispense with the obligations of the coronation oath, 
he might do so, but I would do no act to put him in jeop- 
ardy. These are the grounds on which I refused, and wotild 
refuse a hundred times over, to put one line to paper of what 
constitutes the atrocious bill now before the House. Hun- 
dreds of those who now listen to me must remember the 



502 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

able, valuable, and impressive speech delivered two years 
ago by the present lord Chancellor, then Master of the Rolls, 
and a member of this House. It will also be in the recollec- 
tion of hundreds that that eminent individual, than whom- 
none is more acute in reasoning, more classical in language, 
and more powerful in delivery, then Master of the Rolls, but 
now lord Chancellor, quarrelled with the late Mr. Canning 
on this very subject. Am I then to blame for refusing to do 
that in the subordinate office of Attorney-general, which a 
more eminent adviser of the Crown, only two years ago, de- 
clared, he would not consent to do? Am I, then, to be twit- 
ted, taunted, and attacked? I dare them to attack me. I 
have no speech to eat up. I have no apostacy disgracefully 
to explain. I have no paltry subterfuge to resort to. I have 
not to say that a thing is black one day, and white another, 
I have not been in one year a Protestant Master of the Rolls, 
and in the next a Catholic lord Chancellor. I would rather 
remain as I am, the humble member for Plympton, than be 
guilty of such apostacy — such contradiction — such unex- 
plainable conversion — such miserable, contemptible apos- 
tacy." 

The Attorney-general then entered into an examination 
of the bill itself, which, he said, he was doubtful whether 
members understood. It contained an oath to be taken, instead 
of the present oaths of abjuration and supremacy which had 
excluded the Catholics. But there was no provision in the 
bill which confined this oath to Catholics. It was an oath 
which any man might take, whether Catholic or not. A per- 
son, who was not a Catholic, might, by taking it, enjoy the 
privilege of a Catholic. The oath ought to have stated, 'T 
am a Catholic, and swear so and so." But the bill did not 
require any such declaration. He supposed that this was an 
imitation of James the Second's scheme of liberty and con- 
science. 

Peel and Co. were supported on the principles of James II. 
For the effect of the oath was, that any man might gain ad- 
mission to office, or to the House of Commons; whereas he 
understands the object of the alteration to be, that only those, 
who swore they were Catholics, were to be permitted to 
take the oath. Another clause supposed that a man, who was 
a Catholic, might be prime minister ; it gave a general capacity 
to office. All offices, said the bill, are open to Catholics, 
with one or two exceptions ; ecclesiastical appointments, how- 
ever, were to be separated from the patronage, and vested in 



EMANCIPATION 503 

commissions. Now, Catholics had never manifested an un- 
ambitious temper, and a Catholic prime minister would never 
be satisfied with this retrenchment of his privileges. And 
who was to appoint the commissioners ? Why, a Protestant 
lord Chancellor, lord Lyndhurst. The lord Chancellor would 
have the appointment to ecclesiastical places ; but was this 
sufficient security? Lord Shaftesbury was a Protestant 
chancellor, and so was lord Jeffries. Was the conduct of 
Jeffries to the bishops forgotten ? — a riian who, though a 
Protestant, was as great an enemy to Protestants, and as 
adverse to admitting them to power, as Father Peter himself. 
The protection of the Great Seal was as little to be relied on 
as in the reign of Charles II., when lord Shaftesbury was 
chancellor, or in that of James II., when Jeffries filled that 
office. There might come a time, when no security would be 
found in the character of a lord Chancellor. And who would 
the commissioners select? Would they select Protestants 
who would, or those who would not, apostatize. According 
to the bill, any Catholic, who took ecclesiastical preferment, 
was guilty of a misdemeanour, and could hold his office no 
longer; and again, any Catholic, who advised His Majesty 
respecting the appointment to an ecclesiastical office, was 
subject to the same penalty. Might he be permitted to ask 
who drew that clause ? the very clause, which created the 
offence, contained an absolute prevention of a conviction for 
that offence. The church of Ireland was protected by a 
flimsy sort of security in the bill. None of the dignities of 
the Romish church were to be permitted, eo nomine, to hold 
English titles, as nominees of the pope ; but these titles might 
be held by virtue of a money medium ; a 50 / bank note would 
enable Dr. Doyle, or Dr. Curtis, or any other, to sport Catho- 
lic titles. The bill forbade this, except upon the payment 
of 50 I., which was all the penalty inflicted. There was no 
penalty in the act higher than 200 I., so that, in fact, the 
whole protection of the British constitution consisted in pen- 
alties of 50 L, 100 /., and 200 I. No control over the see of 
Rome ; none over the nomination of the bishops ; nothing 
after the passing of this bill in the way of security of the 
Protestant establishment — but those penalties of 50 /., 100 /., 
and 200 /. This was the declared value of the Protestant 
constitution of the empire in current coin. When this bill 
was dissected and anatomized, it destroyed itself. It ad- 
mitted the danger, and yet provided no security for Prot- 
estants. He would not have condescended to stultify him- 



S04 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

self by the composition of such a bill. He refused to draw 
it up. The folly and the contradictions be upon the heads 
of those who drew it. They might have turned him out of 
office ; but he would not be made such a dirty tool as to draw 
that bill. Let who would, he would not defile pen, or waste 
paper, by such an act of folly, and forfeit his character for 
common sense and honesty. He had, therefore, declined to 
have anything to do with it. 

{Anmial Register, /or 1829, vol. 71, p. 55.) 

212. Speech of Lord Plunkett for the Emancipation Bill 

Anmial Register 

The speeches made in favour of the Emancipation Bill are 
in general far more dignified and logical than those of its op- 
ponents. The supporters of the measure rested their cause upon 
the argument of the inalienable right of every man to citizen- 
ship and equality under the law ; and they buttressed their case 
with historical as well as polemical arguments. The speech 
which follows is indicative of the general attitude of the friends 
of emancipation. 

Lord Plunkett said, that he had reserved himself for the 
purpose of hearing the unanswerable arguments against the 
bill, which lord Eldon on former occasions had threatened 
he would produce when the measure was fairly before the 
House. 

As that noble and learned lord, however, had brought forth 
nothing but the ipse dixit of his own authority, unsustained 
either by ingenious argument, by historical deduction, or by 
an appeal to public and authenticated documents, he felt him- 
self so far absolved from the necessity of refuting anticipated 
arguments for which he had prepared himself, that he would 
address his observations more particularly to the position 
that the bill was calculated to subvert the Protestant consti- 
tution. 

According to lord Eldon, the established principle of the 
Reformation had been to exclude Roman Catholics from Par- 
liament and from offices; and therefore it was that the Oath 
of Supremacy was framed. Now the 5th of Elizabeth did 
not go so far as to exclude Roman Catholics from sitting in 
that House, and not only was there an exception as to the 
House of Peers, but the reason of the exception was stated. 
The reason was this — because the queen was otherwise as- 
sured, not of the religion, but of the loyalty of such Roman 
Catholics as were peers of Parliament. Then the Oath of 
Supremacy was a test, not of religion, but of loyalty. The 



EMANCIPATION 5^5 

members of the lower House were called upon to take the 
oath. It was the policy of Elizabeth to gain the Catholics; 
and for that purpose she changed the Articles and the Liturgy 
of the Church of England, as framed by Edward 6th, and 
adopted the communion service, to suit the Roman Catholics, 
and to enable them to join in communion with the Prot- 
estants. Passages, containing an expressed denial of the 
real presence, were expunged; and for thirteen years after 
the Reformation did the Roman Catholics take the Oath of 
Supremacy, and join in communion with the Church of Eng- 
land. They continued to be admitted to all the offices of 
the state still towards the latter end of the reign of the 
Stuarts. The Roman Catholics then became suspected, not 
on account of their religion, but owing to their supposed ad- 
herence to the designs of the throne. The throne became 
first disaffected to the liberties of the subject; and from 
the reign of Charles ist the Roman Catholics came to be con- 
sidered as enemies to the state through their adherence to 
the king. In a subsequent reign the king himself was a 
Catholic; and, the throne being thus a convert to their re- 
ligion, and making inroads upon the public liberty, the Roman 
Catholics became more and more suspected; and, in point 
of fact, though not of law, they were very generally ex- 
cluded from Parliament in the reign of Charles 2nd because 
the people were prejudiced against them. Till the 25th 
Charles 2nd, the Roman Catholics had contrived occasionally 
to get into Parliament ; and how did the Protestant leaders 
get them out of the House of Commons, as they took the 
Oath and Declaration? Why, they brought into operation 
the law against recusancy, which prohibited persons con- 
victed of recusancy from coming within ten miles of the 
cities of London and Westminster, and thus effectually pre- 
vented them from doing duty in Parliament. They therefore 
got a conviction of recusancy, and then called for a new writ. 
This was a decisive proof that, before the 30th of Charles 
2nd, there was nothing to prevent the Roman Catholics from 
sitting in Parliament. That statute itself contained two en- 
actments, — the first, that Roman Catholics should not sit 
in Parliament without making the Declaration, and the 
second that persons not making the Declaration should be 
excluded from access to the king. There was a third enact- 
ment, which banished such persons ten miles from the cities 
of London and Westminster. This was a law of the land; 
and what had become of that law ? That member of it, which 



So6 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

related to the penalties against recusancy, was gone; for all 
the laws relating to recusancy had been repealed. Then the 
enactment as to access to the king, that had also been repealed. 
So here was a limb of this immortal law lopped off ; leaving 
only the mutilated bust of Titus Oates to represent this im- 
mortal statute, till the act of William 3rd. He would not 
pretend that there might not be good reason for enacting it, 
or that the Catholics might not be dangerous, or that they 
ought not to have been excluded from office owing to their 
adherence to the dangerous designs of the Crown. But what 
was meant by saying that that law was consummated at the 
Revolution ? Was that act of soth Charles 2nd incorporated 
in the Bill of Rights? No such thing. Did the Bill of 
Rights trouble itself with all the trumpery of the invocation 
of saints and transubstantiation ? No such thing. The f ram- 
ers of that bill thought only of settling the principles of the 
constitution so far as they had been invaded, and they had not 
room in their heads for the consideration of such things as 
these. They scouted such trash and trumpery, whilst they 
were intent upon securing the rights and liberties of their 
fellow-subjects which had been invaded by the Crown. These 
wise and great men were no system-mongers, no grinders of 
theories or dogmas, but sound and practical statesmen ; and 
no light toil had they incurred. There were thirteen particu- 
lars stated. The Bill of Rights did not say, upon abstract 
principle, that the Church and State are necessarily Prot- 
estants, but it stated — "Whereas it has been found by ex- 
perience that it is necessary to the safety and welfare of this 
Protestant kingdom that the throne should be unalterably 
Protestant:" and it then goes on to enact, that, should the 
king become a Papist, or marry a Papist, he should thereby 
forfeit his title to the throne, it being found by experience 
that such a security was necessary for this Protestant king- 
dom. He had been asked, whether this was a Protestant 
kingdom; he had been asked triumphantly, was this not a 
Protestant government, a Protestant Parliament? In one 
sense he admitted it was a Protestant kingdom, but did not 
exclude Papists. So he admitted that the Parliament was 
essentially and predominantly Protestant, and in that sense, 
but in no other, the Parliament was Protestant. The act of 
1st of William 3rd forbade Papists to carry arms; this was 
considered as necessary to the security of this Protestant 
state. The principle of that act was transferred to the Bill 
of Rights, which recognized the claim of the Protestants to 



EMANCIPATION 5^7 

carry arms, but did not refer to the right of the Roman Cath- 
olics to carry arms. Those, who argued by inference, took 
advantage of this; but it so happened that throughout the 
Bill of Rights this was the only passage the construction of 
which was hostile to the Roman Catholics ; and this was the 
only passage in it which had been repealed. It had been 
repealed by an act of George 2nd, which also repealed the 
law by which Roman Catholics were forbidden access to the 
throne. By the law previous to 30th Charles 2nd, no person 
could be admitted into the army unless he had previously 
taken the Oath of the Declaration; but by that act, he could 
take the oath subsequent to taking the commission: Then 
came the act of William, saying that that provision was not 
a sufficient security, and that the oath must be taken pre- 
viously. Then the present law precisely and practically 
repealed the act of William, for it restored the mattter to the 
state it was in at the period of the 25th Charles 2nd ; and the 
act, for which lord Eldon had told their lordships he was 
responsible, had taken greater liberties with the Bill of Rights 
than the noble duke had done. Their lordships probably had 
not been apprised, when the act of 1817 passed, that they 
were repealing the act of king William. The act recited, 
"Whereas by certain laws now in existence, there were 
sundry embarrassments in respect to the oaths taken by the 
army and navy," — and, in order to clear up doubts, and to 
assimilate one to the other, it enacted that the oaths pre- 
scribed by the former act need not be taken. Thus was there 
an utter abandonment of the act of William, and that too 
without providing any oath or security in its stead.' The 
present bill did not give the Roman Catholics any benefit 
without an oath, an oath too, which combined in its language 
every possible security that such a form could afford ; but 
under the act of the noble and learned lord, the provisions 
of king William's act were done away, and not even an oath 
was substituted in their stead. 

(^Annual Register for i82g, vol. 71, p. 92.) 

213. The Duke of Wellington on Emancipation 

Annual Register 

The attitude of the Ministry was set forth in a brief speech 
by the dnke of Wellington at the close of the debate. While 
there is little in the utterance beyond a personal explanation of 
the secrecy maintained, it is inserted as being the final word 
on the great question which had for so many years troubled the 
heart of England. 



5o8 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

The debate was closed by a brief reply from the duke of 
Wellington. The apprehended danger to the Irish Church 
from the admission of a few Catholics into Parliament, he 
treated as futile, considering that the throne would be filled 
by a Protestant. Moreover, a fundamental article of the 
Union between the two countries was the union of the two 
Churches; and it was impossible that any mischief could 
happen to the Irish branch of this united Church, without 
destroying the union of the two countries. "A different 
topic," said his grace, "to which Iwish to advert, is a charge 
brought against several of my colleagues, and also against 
myself, .by the noble earl on the cross-bench, of a want of 
consistency in our conduct. My lords, I admit that many of 
my colleagues, as well as myself, did on former occasions 
vote against a measure of a similar description with this ; 
and, my lords, I must say, that my colleagues and myself felt, 
when we adopted this measure, that we should be sacrificing 
ourselves and our popularity to that which we felt to be our 
duty to our sovereign and our country. We knew very well, 
that if we put ourselves at the head of the Protestant cry of 
'No Popery,' we should be much more popular even than 
those who had excited against us that very cry. But we felt 
that in so doing we should have left on the interests of the 
country a burthen which must end in bearing them down, and 
further that we should have deserved the hate and execration 
of our countrymen. Then I am accused, and by a noble and 
learned friend of mine, of having acted with great secrecy 
respecting this measure. Now I beg to tell him, that he has 
done that to me in the course of this discussion which he 
complains of others having done to him ; — in other words, 
he has, in the language of a right hon. friend of his and 
mine, thrown a large paving-stone instead of throwing a 
small pebble. I say, that if he accuses me of acting with 
secrecy on this question, he does not deal with me altogether 
fairly. He knows as well as I do how the Cabinet was con- 
structed on this question; and I ask him, had I any right to 
say a single word to any man whatsoever upon this measure, 
until the person most interested in the kingdom upon it had 
given his consent to my speaking out? Before he accused 
me of secrecy, and of improper secrecy too, he ought to have 
known the precise day upon which I received the permission 
of the highest personage in the country, and had leave to 
open my mouth upon this measure. There is another point 
also on which a noble earl accused me of misconduct; and 



EMANCIPATION 509 

that is, that I did not at once dissolve the Parliament. Now 
I must say that I think noble lords are mistaken in the notion 
of the benefits which they think that they would derive from 
a dissolution of Parliament at this crisis. I believe that 
many of them are not aware of the consequences and of the 
inconveniences of a dissolution of Parliament at any time. 
But when I know, as I did know, and as I do know, the state 
of the elective franchise in Ireland, — when I recollected the 
number of men it took to watch one election which took place 
in Ireland in the course of last summer, — when I knew the 
consequences which a dissolution would produce on the 
return to the House of Commons, to say nothing of the risks 
which must have been incurred at each election, — of col- 
lisions that might have lead to something little short of a 
civil war, — I say, that, knowing all these things, I should 
have been wanting in duty to my sovereign and to my coun- 
try, if I had advised his Majesty to dissolve his Parliament." 

(^Annual Register for i82g, vol. 71, p. 94.) 

214. The End of Jewish Disability 

A7inual Register 

The long persecution of the Jewish race, which had been a 
blot upon the civilization of England as upon that of nearly all 
European countries, was finally ended with the admission of 
Baron Rothschild into Parliament. This measure of justice 
and tolerance was not effected without opposition, but the senti- 
ment of the country was overwhelmingly in favour of the step, 
and its execution was not attended with grave difficulty. 

On the 26th of July, that honourable member, being con- 
ducted to the table by Lord John Russell and Mr. J. A. Smith, 
stated, on the oath being read to him, that he could not con- 
scientiously take it in the form in which it was tendered. 
He was then directed to withdraw. Upon this Lord John 
Russell moved a resolution, simply stating that Baron Roths- 
child was prevented by conscientious objections from taking 
the oath. This resolution, after an ineffectual protest from 
Mr. Warren, was agreed to; whereupon Lord John Russell 
moved a second resolution in the following terms : — "That 
any persons professing the Jewish religion may henceforth, 
in taking the oath prescribed in an Act of the present Session 
of Parliament to entitle him to sit and vote in this House, 
omit the words, 'and I make this declaration upon the true 
faith of a Christian.' " 

A debate ensued, in which Mr. Warren threatened to 



510 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

divide the House. Lord Hotham said he had not intended 
to vote, but, being called upon to decide, felt bound to oppose 
the resolution. Mr. Walpole said he had always regarded 
this as a religious rather than a political question. He did 
not think Jews ought to sit in a Christian legislature : and 
must oppose the resolution. But he was bound to say that 
Baron Rothschild had never permitted himself to do one act 
contrary to the law of the land. He also said that the course 
taken could not be too much deprecated, and if the Jews were 
to be admitted they ought to have been admitted in a frank 
and honest manner. Let them not suppose, however, that 
they were closing the question. Mr. Spooner and Mr. Newde- 
gate repeated their objections to the proceeding. Mr. Fox 
expressed his conviction that the House had never acted 
more in accordance with the spirit of a Christian legislature 
than they were about to do by the admission of Jews to 
Parliament. Lord John Russell reminded Mr. Walpole that 
the mode of settling the question had not been proposed by 
the advocates for the admission of the Jews. "It is not our 
choice but the choice of the other House of Parliament." 
Mr. Walpole said this was not the end of the question; but 
he trusted none would hereafter attempt to deprive the Jews 
of the privilege about to be conferred upon them. 

On a division the resolution was carried by 69 to 37. 
Baron Rothschild, being again introduced, was greeted by 
loud cheers. He took the oath on the Old Testament, omit- 
ting the words, "on the true faith of a Christian," and took 
his seat on the Opposition benches. Thus ended the long 
controversy which had for so many years divided the two 
Houses of Parliament. 

{A7imial Register for l8^8, vol. loo, p. 163.) 

215. The Oaths Act 

(21 & 22 Vic, c. 48, July 23, 1858) 

Siatuies of the Realm- 

While the recognition of Jews as possessing equal rights re- 
moved the great barriers against any inhabitant of the realm, 
it was not until 1858 that all citizens were legally placed upon 
the same footing in regard to their nominal duties. The oaths 
of allegiance to be taken by a Catholic, a Protestant, and a 
Jew differed in form, though but little in substance. At length, 
in the year named, the last distinction was removed, and a 
general form of oath was devised. The "rider" to the Bill, 
whereby the act of participating in the Sacrament of Comm^union 
was not made obligatory upon aspirants for office, was the last 
needful concession to liberty and justice. 



EMANCIPATION 511 

AN ACT TO SUBSTITUTE ONE OATH FOR THE OATHS OF ALLE- 
GIANCE, SUPREMACY, AND ABJURATION ; AND FOR THE 
RELIEF OF HER MAJESTY's SUBJECTS PROFESSING THE 
JEWISH RELIGION 

Whereas it is expedient that One Oath should be substi- 
tuted for the Oaths of Allegiance, Supremacy, and Abjura- 
tion now required by law : Be it therefore enacted by the 
Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice 
and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Com- 
mons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the 
Authority of the same, as follows : 

I. Instead of the Oaths of Allegiance, Supremacy, and 
Abjuration, where the same are now by Law required to be 
taken, and taken and subscribed respectively, the following 
Oath shall be taken and subscribed: 

"I, A. B., do swear, that I will be faithful and bear true 
Allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Victoria, and will defend 
Her to the utmost of my Power against all Conspiracies and 
Attempts whatever which shall be made against Her Person, 
Crown, or Dignity, and I will do my utmost Endeavour to 
disclose and make known to Her Majesty, Her Heirs and 
Successors, all Treasons and traitorous Conspiracies which 
may be formed against Her or them; and I do faithfully 
promise to maintain, support, and defend, to the utmost of 
my Power, the Succession of the Crown, which Succession, 
by an Act, intituled 'An Act for the further Limitation of the 
Crown, and better securing the Rights and Liberties of the 
Subject,' is and stands limited to the Princess Sophia Elec- 
tress of Hanover, and the Heirs of Her Body being Protes- 
tants, hereby utterly renouncing and abjuring any Obedience 
or Allegiance unto any other Person claiming or pretending 
a Right to the Crown of this Realm; and I do declare that 
no foreign Prince, Person, Prelate, State, or Potentate hath 
or ought to have any Jurisdiction, Power, Superiority, Pre- 
eminence, or Authority ecclesiastical or spiritual within this 
Realm; and I make this Declaration upon the true Faith of 
a Christian. So Help me God." 

H. Wherin the Oath hereby appointed the Name of Her 
present Majesty is expressed or referred to, the Name of the 
Sovereign of this Kingdom for the Time being, by Virtue of 
the Act "for the further Limitation of the Crown and better 
securing the Rights and Liberties of the Subject," shall be 



512 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY < 

substituted from Time to Time, with proper Words af Ref- 
erence thereto. 

III. The Oath hereby appointed shall be taken and sub- 
scribed in the same Cases, and by and before the same Per- 
sons, and at the same Times and Places, as the Oaths of 
Allegiance, Supremacy, and Abjuration are respectively now 
directed to be taken, and taken and subscribed ; and the taking 
and subscribing of the Oath hereby appointed shall have the 
like Effect as the taking, and taking and subscribing respect- 
ively of the Oaths of Allegiance, Supremacy, and Abjuration 
would have had if this Act had not been passed; and the 
Refusal, Neglect, or Omission to take and subscribe the 
Oath hereby appointed shall be attended with the like Dis- 
abilities, Incapacities, Penalties, Liabilities, and Consequen- 
ces, as now by Law provided in the Case of Refusal, 
Neglect or Omission to take, or take and subscribe re- 
spectively the Oaths of Allegiance, Supremacy, and Ab- 
juration; and all Provisions now in Force shall be con- 
strued and take effect accordingly : Provided always, that 
no Person, having before the Commencement of this Act 
taken the Oaths of Allegiance, Supremacy and Abjuration, 
shall be required to take and subscribe the Oath hereby ap- 
pointed, unless and until he would be by Law required to 
take the said Oaths of Allegiance, Supremacy, and Abjura- 
tion in Case this Act had not been passed. 

IV. Provided always, that every Person of the Persuasion 
of the People called Quakers, and every other Person now 
by Law permitted to make his solemn Affirmation or De- 
claration instead of taking an Oath, shall, instead of tak- 
ing and subscribing the Oath hereby appointed, make and 
subscribe a solemn Affirmation in the Form of the Oath 
hereby appointed, substituting the Words "solemnly, sin- 
cerely, and truly declare and affirm" for the Word "swear," 
and omitting the Words "And I make this Declaration upon 
the true faith of a Christian. So help me God;" and the 
making and subscribing of such Affirmation by a Person 
hereinbefore authorized to make and subscribe the same, 
with such Omission as aforesaid, shall have the same Force 
and Effect as the taking and subscribing by other Persons of 
the Oath hereby appointed. 

V. And whereas by a certain Act passed in the Ninth Year 
of the Reign of King George the Fourth, intituled "An Act 
for repealing so much of the several Acts as imposes the Ne- 
cessity of receiving the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper as a 



EMANCIPATION Si 3 

qualification of certain Offices and Employments," a certain 
Declaration is prescribed to be taken in the Cases in the said 
Act mentioned : And whereas, by an Act passed in the Ninth 
Year of the Reign of Her present Majesty, intituled "An Act 
for the relief of Persons of the Jewish Religion elected to 
Municipal Offices," a certain other Declaration was per- 
mitted to be taken in certain Cases by Persons professing the 
Jewish Religion, instead of the Declaration required to be 
made and subscribed by the said Act of King George the 
Fourth : And whereas it is right to extend the Benefit of the 
last-recited Act to all other Cases in which the Declaration 
set forth in the said Act of the Ninth Year of the Reign of 
King George the Fourth is by Law required to be taken : Be 
it enacted, That in all Cases which are not in the Provisions 
of the said Act of the Ninth Year of the Reign of Her Ma- 
jesty, in which any other of Her Majesty's subjects are re- 
quired by Law to make and subscribe the Declaration set 
forth in the said Act of the Ninth Year of the Reign of King 
George the Fourth, Her Majesty's Subjects professing the 
Jewish Religion shall be required instead thereof to make and 
subscribe the Declaration set forth in the said Act of the 
Ninth Year of the Reign of Her present Majesty, which 
Declaration shall, with respect to such Person professing the 
Jewish Religion, be of the same Force and Effect as if he 
made and subscribed the said Declaration by the said Act of 
the Ninth Year of the Reign of King George the Fourth, 
and shall be made and subscribed at the same Times and 
Places respectively, and preserved of Record in the same 
Manner as the last-mentioned Declaration is now by Law 
required to be made, subscribed, and preserved. 

VL Provided also, that nothing in this Act contained shall 
be held to alter or affect the Provisions of the Act passed in 
the Tenth Year of King George the Fourth, Chapter Seven, 
"for the Relief of His Majesty's Roman Catholic Subjects." 

{Atinual Register /or l8^8, vol. loo, p. 238.) 

216. The Jewish Relief Act 

(21 & 22 Vict., c. 49, July 23, 1858) 

Annual Register 

On the same day as that on which was passed the Oaths Act, 
there was passed a measure for defining the privileges of the 
Jews more clearly than this had yet been done. While the first 
portion of the Act is almost similar to the provisions contained 
in the Oaths Act, the latter portion expressly continues certain 
disabilities made necessary by the connection between Church 
and State. As a citizen, the Jew was to be henceforth regarded 



514 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

as the peer of the Christian ; but certain functions which trenched 
on the ecclesiastical ground were still withheld. 

AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE RELIEF OF HER MAJESTY's SUB- 
JECTS PROFESSING THE JEWISH RELIGION 

Be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by 
and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and 
Temporal, and Commons, in the present Parliament as- 
sembled, and by the Authority of the same, as follows : 

I. Where it shall appear to either House of Parliament 
that a Person professing the Jewish Religion, otherwise en- 
titled to sit and vote in such House, is prevented from sitting 
and voting by his conscientious Objections to take the Oath 
which by an Act passed in the present Sessions of Parliament 
has been or may be substituted for the Oaths of Allegiance, 
Supremacy, and Abjuration in the Form therein required, 
such House, if it think fit, may resolve that henceforth any 
Person professing the Jewish Religion, in taking the same 
Oath to entitle him to sit and vote as aforesaid, may omit 
the Words "and I make this Declaration upon the true Faith 
of a Christian," and so long as such Resolution shall continue 
in force the said Oath, when taken and subscribed by any 
Person professing the Jewish Religion to entitle him to sit 
and vote in that House of Parliament, may be modified 
accordingly; and the taking and subscribing by any Person 
professing the Jewish Religion of the Oath so modified shall, 
so far as respects the Title to sit and vote in such Plouse, 
have the same Force and Effect as the taking and subscribing 
by other Persons of the said Oath in the Form required by 
the said Act. 

II. In all other Cases, except for sitting in Parliament as 
aforesaid, or in qualifying to exercise the Right of Presenta- 
tion to any Ecclesiastical Benefice in Scotland, whenever 
any of Her Majesty's Subjects professing the Jewish Religion 
shall be required to take the said Oath, the Words "and I 
make this Declaration upon the true Faith. of a Christian" 
shall be omitted. 

III. Nothing herein contained shall extend or be construed 
to extend to enable any Person or Persons professing the 
Jewish Religion to hold or exercise the Office of Guardians 
and Justices of the United Kingdom, or of Regent of the 
United Kingdom, under whatever Name, Style, or Title 
such Office may be constituted, or of Lord High Chancel- 
lor, Lord Keeper or Lord Commissioner of the Great Seal 



EMANCIPATION 51S 

of Great Britain or Ireland, or the Office of Lord Lieu- 
tenant or Deputy or other Chief Governor or Governors of 
Ireland, or Her Majesty's High Commissioner to the Gen- 
eral Assembly of the Church of Scotland. 

IV. Where any Right of Presentation to any Ecclesiastical 
Benefice shall belong to any Office in the Gift or Appoint- 
ment of her Majesty, Her Heirs or Successors, and such 
Office shall be held by a Person professing the Jewish 
Religion, the Right of Presentation shall devolve upon and 
be exercised by the Archbishop of Canterbury for the Time 
being; and it shall not be lawful for any Person professing 
the Jewish Religion, directly or indirectly, to advise Her 
Majesty, Her Heirs or Successors, or any Person or Persons 
holding or exercising the Office of Guardians of the United 
Kingdom, or of Regent of the United Kingdom, under what- 
ever Name, Style, or Title such Office may be constituted, 
or the Lord Lieutenant or Lord Deputy, or any other Chief 
Governor or Governors of Ireland, touching or concerning 
the Appointment to or disposal of any Office or Preferment 
in the United Church of England and Ireland, or in the 
Church of Scotland; and if such Person shall offend in the 
Premises he shall, being thereof convicted by due Course of 
Law, be deemed guilty of a high Misdemeanor, and disabled 
for ever from holding any Office, Civil or Military, under 
the Crown. 

{Annual Register for j8s8, ed. cit., p. 241.) 

217. The End of the Slave Trade 

Cohheti 

The great struggle against slavery was fought out in the 
nineteenth century. Then it was that the question of emanci- 
pation of the negroes was agitated by the whole world. The 
movement resulted in the freedom of the negroes held in bondage 
by civilized nations, and in ending exportations of slaves from 
Africa. The success of the English movement was only brought 
about by a long and arduous combat on the part of its adherents, 
but it was largely instrumental in the general abolition of the 
system. The following extract portrays the closing scenes at- 
tending the passage of the Emancipation Act. 

Lord Grenville moved the order of the day for taking into 
consideration the amendments made by the house of com- 
mons in the Slave Trade Abolition bill. His lordship ob- 
served that the object of the greater part of these amend- 
ments was to inforce penalties and forfeitures upon those 
carrying on the trade, after the period fixed by parliament 



5i6 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

for Its abolition, which it was not the practice of that house 
to enact. These amendments, therefore, were merely calcu- 
lated the better to carry into effect the principle of the bill. 
With respect to the amendment in the preamble, leaving out 
the words, declaring the trade to be contrary to justice, 
humanity, and sound policy, it would not be imagined after 
what he had said upon the subject, that his opinion had sus- 
tained any alteration. It having, however, been thought 
right by the house of commons to make this alteration, in 
order that the feelings of those concerned in the trade might 
not be wounded, he had no objection to it. 

The Bishop of Landaff rose to deliver his opinion of the 
bill, which he had not till then an opportunity of doing. The 
right reverend prelate observed, that in judging of the 
propriety of the preamble as it originally stood, or of the 
amendments that had been made in it, the different states of 
slavery as they existed at different periods of the world 
should duly be considered. Certain conditions of slavery 
existed in the antediluvian world full 700 years before Noah ; 
and such must have existed both before and after the forma- 
tion of civil society. Under the circumstances of those 
times, multitudes must have existed, who could derive sus- 
tenance only from their labour, and who, in order to secure 
their means of support, were willing to surrender up that 
labour, and with it their freedom. Such a state of slavery 
might not indeed be considered as contrary to justice and 
humanity, because it was a voluntary act on the part of those 
who submitted to it ; but, although that state of slavery might 
not be judged inconsistent with justice and humanity, it did 
not follow that other descriptions of it might not be highly 
inhuman and unjust ; for what could be more contrary to jus- 
tice and humanity, than to excite civil war in a country, and 
then take advantage of'the calamities arising from it to force 
away the miserable inhabitants into an hopeless captivity? 
Such he conceived to be the nature of the trade which it was 
proposed to abolish. Its abolition was an act of national 
humanity and justice; it was an act that would never be 
blotted out in the records of divine mercy. He was ready 
to confess, that the most keenly exploring eye might not be 
able to dive into the consequences of such a measure; but 
as it evidently sprang from the root of undissembled piety 
and humanity, it should not be supposed to be productive of 
evil; but, on the contrary, that it must be healing and bene- 
ficial to mankind. 



EMANCIPATION 517 

The Earl of Westmoreland could not let slip this last op- 
portunity of entering his protest against the bill ; he must 
therefore repeat some of his former objections to it, though 
he was aware that the repetition must be in some degree 
irksome to the house. At least he must remind them that 
one more occasion presented itself to allow them to rectify 
their opinions, which they should be the more induced to do 
from the awful warning contained in the petition which he 
had that day laid on their lordship's table. From that peti- 
tion they might collect the dreadful consequences which even 
the resolutions of last year wxre producing in Jamaica. 
Every thing there seemed to indicate the approach of an 
organized insurrection, which might receive a new stimulus 
and encouragement from the bill now on the eve of passing. 
It, therefore, called again for the most serious consideration 
of their lordships, and that consideration would shew them 
that the proposed clauses involved the greatest inconsisten- 
cies, absurdities, and even impossibilities. As to the pre- 
amble, nothing could reconcile him to it. No good could be 
expected from it, while it might be attended with much mis- 
chief: he was, therefore, for leaving it out altogether. As 
to the consequences of the measure, they certainly appeared 
to him most alarming. If ever St. Domingo and Cuba were 
in the hands of our enemies, and if they resolved to carry on 
this trade, that alarm would prove but too well founded. He 
w^ould even venture to say, that it was to the existence of the 
slave trade that their lordships were indebted for their being 
now sitting in that house. Our existence depended upon the 
strength of our navy, and the strength of our navy was 
chiefly derived from the slave trade. Their lordships must 
be convinced of it, if they but reflected that the town of 
Liverpool alone now sent out a greater number of privateers 
than were employed by the whole of the country against the 
enemy, in the time of Queen Elizabeth. 

The Marquis of Sligo disapproved of the clauses, and con- 
tended, that the preamble contained a gross calumny. 

The Duke of Norfolk was not very anxious on former 
occasions to support the measures of the abolition; because 
he knew that many of those who were loudest in its praise, 
were far from being sincere in their wishes for its success. 
Now, however, when it was taken up by ministers who had 
his confidence, and, who, he was satisfied, were incapable of 
any duplicity, the bill should have his most cordial support, 
and he should rejoice to see it pass. — The question was now 



SJS SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

put on the several amendments, and agreed to. — Lord Gren- 
ville then moved, that the bill, with the amendments, etc., as 
agreed to, be sent to the commons, and on the motion being 
agreed to, — his lordship again rose, and congratulated the 
house on having now performed one of the most glorious acts 
that had ever been done by any assembly or any nation in 
the world. 

{Parliametttary Debates, ed. Cobbett, Lond., 1807. IX, 168.) 



CHAPTER XXXI 



PARLIAMENTARY REFORM 



218. Speech on the First Reform Bill 

(1831) 

Rnssell 

The speech of Lord John Russell, when on March i, 1831, he 
introduced the First Reform Bill, opened a debate which prac- 
tically lasted until June 5, 1832. The Whig ministry knew that 
the fate of their party depended upon that of the Bill, and they 
came to realize that the fate of the dynasty itself might depend 
upon the same thing. The Opposition were no less desirous of 
victory, seeing in the Bill a measure which threatened the pros- 
perity of the people and the very existence of the State. " The 
country was divided into two hostile camps, regarding each other 
with feelings of increased exasperation. On the one hand, the 
anti-reformers, though comparatively few, were immensely 
strong in position and prestige . . . On the other hand, the re- 
formers could count upon the support of the great mass of the 
people." 

The object of ministers has been to produce a measure with 
which every reasonable man in the country will be satisfied 
— we wish to take our stand between the two hostile parties, 
neither agreeing with the bigotry of those who would reject 
all Reform, nor with the fanaticism of those who contend 
that only one plan of Reform would be wholesome or satis- 
factory, but placing ourselves between both, and between the 
abuses we intend to amend and the convulsion we hope to 
avert. 

The ancient constitution of our country declares that no 
man should be taxed for the support of the state, who has 
not consented, by himself or his representative, to the im- 
position of these taxes. The well-known statute, de tallagio 
non concedcndo, repeats the same language ; and, although 
some historical doubts have been thrown upon it, its legal 
meaning has never been disputed. It included "all the free- 
men of the land," and provided that each county shotild send 
to the Commons of the realm, two knights, each city two 

519 



520 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

burgesses, and each borough two members. Thus about a 
hundred places sent representatives, and some thirty or forty 
others occasionally enjoyed the privilege, but it was discon- 
tinued or revived as they rose or fell in the scale of wealth 
and importance. Thus, no doubt, at that early period, the 
House of Commons did represent the people of England; 
there is no doubt likewise, that the House of Commons, as 
it now subsists, does not represent the people of England. 
Therefore, if we look at the question of right, the reformers 
have right in their favour. Then, if we consider what is 
reasonable, we shall arrive at a similar result. 

A stranger, who was told that this country is unparallelecf 
in wealth and industry, and more civilized, and more en- 
lightened than any country was before it ; that it is a country 
that prides itself on its freedom, and that once in every seven 
years it elects representatives from its population, to act as 
the guardians and preservers of that freedom, — would be 
anxious and curious to see how that representation is formed, 
and how the people chose those representatives, to whose 
faith and guardianship they entrust their free and liberal 
institutions. Such a person would be very much astonished 
if he were taken to a ruined mound, and told that that mound 
sent two representatives to Parliament — if he were taken 
to a stone wall, and told that three niches in it sent two repre- 
sentatives to Parliament — if he were taken to a park, where 
no houses were to be seen, and told that that park sent two 
representatives to Parliament; but if he were told all this, 
and were astonished at hearing it, he would be still more 
astonished if he were to see large and opulent towns full of 
enterprise, and industry, and intelligence, containing vast 
magazines of every species of manufactures, and were then 
told that these towns sent no representatives to Parliament. 
Such a person would be still more astonished, if he were 
taken to Liverpool, where there is a large constituency, and 
told, here you will have a fine specimen of a popular elec- 
tion. He would see bribery employed to the greatest extent, 
and in the most unblushing manner; he would see every voter 
receiving a number of guineas in a box, as the price of his 
corruption; and after such a spectacle, he would no doubt be 
much astonished that a nation whose representatives are thus 
chosen, could perform the functions of legislation at all, or 
enjoy respect in any degree. I say then, that if the question 
before the House is a question of reason, the present state 
of representation is against reason. 



PARLIAMENTARY REFORM 521 

The confidence of the country in the construction and con- 
stitution of the House of Commons is gone. It would be 
easier to transfer the flourishing manufactures of Leeds and 
Manchester to Gatton and Old Sarum, than re-establish con- 
fidence and sympathy between this House and those whom 
it calls its constituents. If, therefore, the question is one of 
right, right is in favour of Reform; if it be a question of 
reason, reason is in favour of Reform ; if it be a question of 
policy and expediency, policy and expediency are in favour 
of Reform. 

I come now to the explanation of the measure which, 
representing the ministers of the king, I am about to propose 
to the House. Those ministers have thought, and in my 
opinion justly thought, that no half measures would be suf- 
ficient ; that no trifling or paltering with Reform could give 
stability to the Crown, strength to Parliament, or satisfaction 
to the country. The chief grievances of which the people 
complain are these. First, the nomination of members by 
individuals; second, the election by close corporations; third, 
the expense of elections. With regard to the first, it may be 
exercised in two ways, either over a place containing scarcely 
any inhabitants, and with a very extensive right of election; 
or over a place of wide extent and numerous population, but 
where the franchise is confined to very few persons. Gatton 
is an example of the first, and Bath of the second. At Gat- 
ton, where the right of voting is by scot and lot, all house- 
holders have a vote, but there are only five persons to exer- 
cise the right. At Bath the inhabitants are numerous, but 
very few of them have any concern in the election. In the 
former case, we propose to deprive the borough of the fran- 
chise altogether. In doing so, we have taken for our guide 
the population returns of 1821 ; and we propose that every 
borough which in that year had less than 2,oco inhabitants, 
should altogether lose the right of sending members to Par- 
liament, the effect of which will be to disfranchise sixty-two 
boroughs. But we do not stop here. As the honourable 
member for Boroughbridge [Sir C. Wetherell] would say, 
we go plus ultra; we find that there are forty-seven boroughs 
of only 4,000 inhabitants, and these we shall deprive of the 
right of sending more than one member to Parliament. We 
likewise intend that Weymouth, which at present sends four 
members to Parliament, should in the future send only two. 
The total reduction thus effected in the number of the 
members of this House will be 168. This is the whole ex- 



52-2 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

tent to which we are prepared to go in the way of dis- 
franchisement. 

We do not, however, mean to allow that the remaining 
boroughs should be in the hands of a small number of persons 
to the exclusion of the great body of the inhabitants who 
have property and interest in the place. It is a point of great 
difficulty to decide to whom the franchise should be ex- 
tended. Though it is a point much disputed, I believe it will 
be found that in ancient times every inhabitant householder 
resident in a borough was competent to vote for members of 
Parliament. As, however, this arrangement excluded villeins 
and strangers, the franchise always belonged to a particular 
body in every town ; — that the voters were persons of prop- 
erty is obvious, from the fact that they are called upon to pay 
su.bsidies and taxes. Two different courses seem to prevail 
in different places. In some, every person having a house, 
and being free, was admitted to a general participation in 
the privileges formerly possessed by burgesses : in others, the 
burgesses became a select body, and were converted into 
a kind of corporation, more or less exclusive. These differ- 
ences, the House will be aware, lead to the most difficult, and 
at the same time the most useless questions that men can be 
called upon to decide. I contend that it is proper to get rid 
of these complicated rights, of these vexatious questions, 
and to give the real property and real respectability of the 
different cities and towns, the right of voting for members 
of Parliament. Finding that a qualification of a house rated 
at £20 a year, would confine the elective franchise, instead 
of enlarging it, we propose that the right of voting should be 
given to the householders paying rates for houses of the 
yearly value of fio and upwards, upon certain conditions 
hereafter to be stated. At the same time it is not intended 
to deprive the present electors of their privilege of voting, 
provided they are resident. With regard to non-residence, 
we are of opinion that it produces much expense, is the cause 
of a great deal of bribery, and occasions such manifest and 
manifold evils, that electors who do not live in a place ought 
not be permitted to retain their votes. With regard to res- 
ident voters, we propose that they should retain their right 
during life, but that no vote should be allowed hereafter, ex- 
cept to £10 householders. 

I shall now proceed to the manner in which we propose to 
extend the franchise in counties. The bill I wish to in- 
troduce will give all copyholders to the value of £10 a year, 



PARLIAMENTARY REFORM 523 

qualified to serve on juries, under the right hon. gentlemen's 
[Sir R. Peel] bill, a right to vote for the return of knights 
of the shire; also, that leaseholders, for not less than twenty- 
one years, whose annual rent is not less than £50, and whose 
leases have not been renewed within two years, shall enjoy 
the same privilege. 

(^History of the Reform Bill, Molesworthy, Lond., 1866, 103.) 

219. The Prorogation of the Anti-Reform Parliament 

(1831) 

Molesivorthy 

The First Reform Bill had passed two readings when the 
ministry, concluded after an adverse vote upon a motion, in- 
troduced by General Gascoyne, in opposition to their policy, that 
it was useless to continue the struggle in Parliament. Confident 
of the support of the electors, they resolved to appeal to the 
country. To do this a dissolution of Parliament was necessary, 
and against this the anti-reformers were firmly arrayed. The 
ministry appealed to the king. In the selection which follows, 
this appeal is vividly described, and the action of the king in 
dissolving Parliament is clearly portrayed. 

Under these circumstances, ministers acted with prompti- 
tude and decision. Their defeat had occurred on the morn- 
ing of the 22nd of April ; on the same day summonses were 
issued, calling a Cabinet council at St. James's Palace. So 
short was the notice, that the ministers were unable to attend, 
as was customary on such occasions, in their court dresses. 
At this council it was unanimously resolved that the Parlia- 
ment should be prorogued the same day, with a view to its 
speedy dissolution, and the royal speech, which had been 
prepared for the occasion, was considered and adopted. All 
necessary arrangements having been made, in order to take 
away from the king all pretext for delay, Earl Grey and Lord 
Brougham were deputed to wait on the king, and communi- 
cate to him the advice of the Cabinet. From what has been 
already said, the reader will be prepared to anticipate that 
this advice was far from palatable. The unusual haste with 
which it w^as proposed to carry out that measure, naturally 
increased the king's known objections to the proposed step, 
and furnished him with a good excuse for refusing his assent 
to it. Earl Grey, the pink and pattern of loyalty and chival- 
rous courtesy, shrunk from the disagreeable errand, and re- 
quested his bolder and less courtly colleague to introduce the 
subject, begging him at the same time to manage the suscep- 
tibility of the king as much as possible. 

The Chancellor accordingly approached the subject very 
carefully, prefacing the disagreeable message with which he 



524 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

was charged, with a compliment on the king's desire to pro- 
mote the welfare of his people. He then proceeded to com- 
municate the advice of the Cabinet, adding, that they were 
unanimous in offering it. 

"What !" exclaimed the king, "would you have me dismiss 
in this summary manner a Parliament which has granted me 
so splendid a civil list, and given my queen so liberal an 
annuity in case she survives me?" 

"No doubt, sire," Lord Brougham replied, "in these respects 
they have acted wisely and honourably, but your Majesty's 
advisers are all of opinion, that in the present state of affairs, 
every hour that this Parliament continues to sit is pregnant 
with danger to the peace and security of your kingdom, and 
they humbly beseech your Majesty to go down this very day 
and prorogue it. If you do not, they cannot be answerable 
for the consequences." 

The king was greatly embarrassed ; he evidently enter- 
tained the strongest objection to the proposed measure, but 
he also felt the danger which would result from the resigna- 
tion of his ministers at the present crisis. He therefore 
shifted his ground, and asked — "Who is to carry the sword 
of state and the cap of maintenance?" 

"Sire, knowing the urgency of the crisis and the imminent 
peril in which the country at this moment stands, we have 
ventured to tell those whose duty it is to perform these and 
other similar offices, to hold themselves in readiness." 

"But the troops, the life guards, I have given no orders for 
them to be called out, and now it is too late." 

This was indeed a serious objection, for to call out the 
guards was the special prerogative of the monarch himself, 
and no minister had any right to order their attendance with- 
out his express command. 

"Sire," replied the Chancellor, with some hesitation, "we 
must throw ourselves on your indulgence. Deeply feeling 
the gravity of the crisis, and knowing your love for your 
people, we have taken a liberty which nothing but the most 
imperious neccessity could warrant ; we have ordered out the 
troops, and we humbly throw ourselves on your Majesty's 
indulgence." 

The king's eye flashed and his cheek became crimson. He 
was evidently on the point of dismissing the ministry in an 
explosion of anger. "Why, my lords," he exclaimed, "this 
is treason ! high treason, and you, my Lord Chancellor, 
ought to know that it is," 



PARLIAMENTARY REFORM 525 

"Yes, sire, I do know it, and nothing but the strongest 
conviction that your Majesty's crown and the interests 
of the nation are at stake, could have induced us to 
take such a step, or to tender the advice we are now giv- 
ing." 

This submissive reply had the desired effect, the king 
cooled, his prudence and better genius prevailed, and having 
once made up his mind to yield, he yielded with a good grace. 
He accepted, without any objection, the speech which had 
been prepared for him, and which the two ministers had 
brought with them, he gave orders respecting the details of 
the approaching ceremonial, and having completely recov- 
ered his habitual serenity and good humour, he dismissed the 
two lords with a jocose threat of impeachment. 

At half-past two o'clock the king entered his state carriage. 
It was remarked that the guards on this occasion rode wide 
of it, as if they attended as a matter of state and ceremony, 
and not as being needed for the king's protection. Persons 
wishing to make a more open demonstration of their feelings, 
were allowed to pass between the soldiers and approach the 
royal carriage. One of these, a rough sailorlike person, 
pulled off his hat, and waving it around his head, shouted 
lustily, "Turn out the rogues, your Majesty." Notwithstand- 
ing the suddenness with which the resolution to dissolve had 
been taken, the news had already spread through the metrop- 
olis, an immense crowd was assembled, and the king was 
greeted throughout his whole progress with the most enthu- 
siastic shouts. He was exceedingly fond of popularity, and 
these acclamations helped to reconcile him to the step he had 
been compelled to take, and to efface the unpleasant impres- 
sion which the scene which had so recently occurred could 
not fail to leave behind it. 

Meanwhile, another scene of a far more violent kind was 
taking place in the House of Lords. The Chancellor on 
leaving the king went down to the House to hear appeals. 
Having gone through the cause list he retired, in the hope 
that he should thereby prevent Lord Wharncliffe from bring- 
ing forward his motion. But the opposition lords had mus- 
tered in great force, and the House was full in all parts. It 
is usual on the occasion of a prorogation by the sovereign, 
for the peers to appear in their robes, and most of those 
present wore theirs, but owing to the precipitation with 
which the dissolution had been decided on, several peers, 
especially on the opposition side of the House, were without 



526 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 



them. A large number of peeresses in full dress, and of 
members of the House of Commons were also present. And 
now a struggle commenced between the two parties into 
which the House was divided. The object of the opposition 
was to press Lord Wharncliffe's motion before the king's 
arrival; the supporters of the ministry wished to prevent it 
from being passed. The firing of the park guns announced 
thajt the king was already on his way down to the House, and 
told the opposition they had no time to lose. On the motion 
of Lord Mansfield, the Earl of Shaftesbury presided, in the 
absence of the Lord Chancellor. 

The Duke of Richmond, in order to baffle the opposition, 
moved that the standing order which required their lordships 
to take their places should be enforced. The opposition saw 
at once that this motion was made for the sake of delay, and 
angrily protested against it; whereupon the duke threatened 
to call for the enforcement of two other standing orders 
which prohibited the use of intemperate and threatening 
language in the house. Lord Londonderry, furious with in- 
dignation, broke out into a vehement tirade against the con- 
duct of the ministry, and thus effectually played the game of 
his opponents. So violent was the excitement which pre- 
vailed at this time in the House, that the ladies present were 
terrified, thinking that the peers would actually come to 
blows. At length Lord Londonderry was persuaded to sit 
down, and Lord Wharncliffe obtained a hearing. But it was 
too late to press his motion, and he contented himself with 
reading it, in order that it might be entered on the journals 
of the House. 

At this conjuncture, the Lord Chancellor returned, and the 
moment the reading of the address was concluded, he ex- 
claimed in a vehement and emphatic tone — 

"My lords, I have never yet heard it doubted that the 
kihg possessed the prerogative of dissolving Parliament at 
pleasure, still less have I ever known a doubt to exist on the 
subject at a moment when the lower House have thought fit 
to refuse the supplies." Scarcely had he uttered these words 
when he was summoned to meet the king, who had just ar- 
rived and was in the robing room; he at once quitted the 
House, which resounded on all sides with cries of "hear" and 
"the king." 

This tumult having in some degree subsided. Lord Mans- 
field addressed the house, regretting the scene which had 
just occurred, and condemning: the dissolution, which he 



of I 
id I! 



PARLIAMENTARY REFORM 527 

qualified as an act by which the ministers were making the 
sovereign the instrument of his own destruction. 

He was interrupted by another storm of violence and con- 
fusion, which was at length appeased by the announcement 
that the king was at hand. When he entered, the assembly 
had recovered its usual calm and decorous tranquillity. The 
members of the House of Commons having been summoned 
to the bar, the king, in a loud and firm voice, pronounced his 
speech, which commenced with the following words : — 

"My lords and gentlemen, 

"I have come to meet you for the purpose of proroguing 
this Parliament, with a view to its immediate dissolution. 

'T have been induced to resort to this measure for the 
purpose of ascertaining the sense of my people, in the way in 
which it can be most constitutionally and authentically ex- 
pressed, on the expediency of making such changes in the 
representation as circumstances may appear to require, and 
which, founded on the acknowledged principles of the consti- 
tution, may tend at once to uphold the just rights and pre- 
rogatives of the crown, and to give security to the liberties of 
the people." 

{History of the Reform Bill, ed. cit., 185.) 

220. Passage of the First Reform Bill 

Macatclay 

The scenes which accompanied the passage of the first Re- 
form Bill are graphically described in the following letter from 
Lord Macaulay. The writer was himself an ardent supporter 
of the Bill, and he thoroughly entered into the spirit of its 
triumph. 

PASSAGE OF THE FIRST REFORM BILL 

London, March 30th, 183 1. 

Dear Ellis, — I have little news for you, except what you 
will learn from the papers as well as from me. It is clear 
that the Reform Bill must pass, either in this or in another 
Parliament. The majority of one does not appear to me, as 
it does to you, by any means inauspicious. We should per- 
haps have had a better plea for a dissolution if the majority 
had been the other way. But surely a dissolution under such 
circumstances would have been a most alarming thing. If 
there should be a dissolution now, there will not be that 
ferocity in the public mind which there would have been if 
the House of Commons had refused to entertain the bill at 



528 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 



all. I confess that, till we had a majority, I was half in- 
clined to tremble at the storm which he had raised. At 
present I think that we are absolutely certain of victory, and 
of victory without commotion. 

Such a scene as the division of last Tuesday I never saw, 
and never expect to see again. If I should live fifty years, 
the impression of it will be as fresh and sharp in my mind 
as if it had just taken place. It was like seeing Caesar 
stabbed in the Senate-house, or seeing Oliver taking the mace 
from the table ; a sight to be seen only once, and never to be 
forgotten. The crowd overflowed the House in every part. 
When the strangers were cleared out, and the doors locked, 
we had six hundred and eight members present — more by 
fifty-five than ever were in a division before. The ayes and 
noes were like two volleys of cannon from opposite sides of a 
field of battle. When the opposition went out into the lobby, 
an operation which took up twenty minutes or more, we 
spread ourselves over the benches on both sides of the 
House ; for there were many of us who had not been able to 
find a seat during the evening. When the doors were shut 
we began to speculate on our members. Everybody was 
desponding. "We have lost it. We are only two hundred 
and eighty at most. I do not think we are two hundred and 
fifty. They are three hundred. Alderman Thompson has 
counted them. He says they are two hundred and ninety- 
nine." This was the talk on our benches. I wonder that 
men who have been long in Parliament do not acquire a 
better coup d'oeil for numbers. The House, when only the 
ayes were it, looked to me a very fair House — much fuller 
than it is. generally even on debates of considerable inter- 
est. I had no hope, however, of three hundred. As the tel- 
lers passed along our lowest row on the left-hand side the 
interest was insupportable — two hundred and ninety-one — 
two hundred and ninety-two — we were all standing up and 
stretching forward, telling with the teller. At three hun- 
dred there was a short cry of joy — at three hundred and two 
another — suppressed, however, in a moment ; for we did 
not yet know what the hostile force might be. We knew, 
however, that we could not be severely beaten. The doors 
were thrown open and in they came. Each of them, as he 
entered, brought some different report of their members. It 
must have been impossible, as you may conceive, in the lobby, 
crowded as they were, to form any exact estimate. First we 
heard that they were three hundred and three; then that 



1 



PARLIAMENTARY REFORM 5^9 

number rose to three hundred and ten ; then they went down 
to three hundred and seven. Alexander Barry told me that 
he had counted, and that they were three hundred and four. 
We were all breathless with anxiety, when Charles Wood, 
who stood near the door, jumped upon a bench and cried out, 
*They are only three hundred and one." We set up a shout 
that you might have heard to Charing Cross, waving our 
hats, stamping against the floor, and clapping our hands. 
The tellers scarcely got through the crowd; for the House 
was thronged up to the table, and all the floor was fluctua- 
ting with heads like the pit of a theatre. But you might have 
heard a pin drop as Duncannon read the members. Then 
again the shouts broke out, and many of us shed tears. I 
could scarcely refrain. And the jaw of Peel fell; and the 
face of Twiss was as the face of a damned soul ; and Herries 
looked like Judas taking his neck-tie off for the last opera- 
tion. We shook hands and clapped each other on the back, 
and went out laughing, crying, and huzzaing into the lobby. 
And no sooner were the outer doors opened than another 
shout answered that within the House. All the passages 
and the stairs into the waiting-rooms were thronged by 
people who had waited till four in the morning to know the 
issue. We passed through a narrow lane between two thick 
masses of them ; and all the way down we were shouting and 
waving our hats, till we got into the open air. I called a 
cabriolet, and the first thing the driver asked was, 'Ts the 
bill carried?" "Yes, by one." 'Thank God for it, sir!" 
And away I rode to Gray's Inn — and so ended a scene which 
will probably never be equalled till the reformed Parliament 
wants reforming ; and that I hope will not be till the days of 
our grandchildren — till that truly orthodox and apostolical 
person, Dr. Francis Ellis, is an archbishop of eighty. 

(Lt/e and Letters of Lord Macaulay , ed. Trevelyan, Lond., 1897. I, 204.) 



CHAPTER XXXII 

CHARTISM, AND CORN-LAW REPEAL 
221. The First National Petition 

Gamtnage 

The first petition drawn up in 1838 by the Chartists, although 
not that subsequently presented to the House of Commons, well 
defines the motives and purposes of the movement. One of the 
six points demanded — that of equal representation — was omit- 
ted ; perhaps because it was deemed a corollary of universal 
suffrage. This petition was the first definition of the spirit of 
the movement, and formed a basis for the petitions which were 
afterward drafted and presented. 

"To the Honourable the Commons of Great Britain and 
Ireland, in Parliament assembled, the Petition of the under- 
signed, their suffering countrymen, 

"Humbly Showeth, — 

"That we, your petitioners, dwell in a land whose mer- 
chants are noted for their enterprise, whose manufacturers 
are very skilful, and whose workmen are proverbial for their 
industry. The land itself is goodly, the soil rich, and the 
temperature wholesome. It is abundantly furnished w4th the 
materials of commerce and trade. It has numerous and con- 
venient harbours. In facility of internal communication it 
exceeds all others. For three and twenty years we have en- 
joyed a profound peace. Yet, with all the elements of na- 
tional prosperity, and with every disposition and capacity to 
take advantage of them, we find ourselves with public and 
private suffering. We are bowed down under a load of 
taxes, which, notwithstanding, fall greatly short of the wants 
of our rulers. Our traders are trembling on the verge of 
bankruptcy; our workmen are starving. Capital brings no 
profit, and labour no remuneration. The home of the artif- 
icer is desolate, and the warehouse of the pawnbroker is full. 
The workhouse is crowded, and the manufactory is deserted. 

530 



CHARTISM, AND CORN -LAW REPEAL 531 

We have looked on every side ; we have searched diligently 
in order to find out the causes of distress so sore and so long 
continued. We can discover none in nature or in Provi- 
dence. Heaven has dealt graciously by the people, nor have 
the people abused its grace, but the foolishness of our rulers 
has made the goodness of our God of none effect. The ener- 
gies of a mighty kingdom have been wasted in building up 
the power of selfish and ignorant men, and its resources 
squandered for their aggrandisement. The good of a part 
has been advanced at the sacrifice of the good of the nation. 
The few have governed for the interest of the few, while the 
interests of the many have been sottishly neglected, or in- 
solently and tyrannously trampled upon. It was the fond 
expectation of the friends of the people that a remedy for the 
greater part, if not for the whole of their grievances, would 
be found in the Reform Act of 1832. They regarded that 
Act as a wise means to a worthy end, as the machinery of an 
improved legislation, where the will of the masses would be 
at length potential. They have been bitterly and basely de- 
ceived. The fruit which looked so fair to the eye, has turned 
to dust and ashes when gathered. The Reform Act effected 
a transfer of power from one domineering faction to another, 
and left the people as helpless as before. Our slavery has 
been exchanged for an apprenticeship of liberty, which has 
aggravated the painful feelings of our social degradation, by 
adding to them the sickening of still deferred hope. We 
come before your honourable house to tell you, with all hu- 
mility, that this state of things must not be permitted to con- 
tinue. That it cannot long continue, without very seriously 
endangering the stability of the throne, and the peace of the 
kingdom, and that if, by God's help, and all lawful and con- 
stitutional appliances, an end can be put to it, we are fully 
resolved that it shall speedily come to an end. We tell your 
honourable house, that the capital of the master must no 
longer be deprived of its due profit; that the labour of the 
workman must no longer be deprived of its due reward. 
That the laws w^hich make food dear, and the laws which 
make money scarce, must be abolished. That taxation must 
be made to fall on property, not on industry. That the 
good of the many, as it is the only legitimate end, so must it 
be the sole study of the government. As a preliminary es- 
sential to these and other requisite changes — as the means 
by which alone the interests of the people can be effectually 
vindicated and secured, we demand that those interests be 



532 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 



confided to the keeping of the people. When the State calls 
for defenders, when it calls for money, no consideration of 
poverty or ignorance can be pleaded in refusal or delay of the 
call. Required, as we are universally, to support and obey 
the laws, nature and reason entitle us to demand that in the 
making of the laws the universal voice shall be implicitly 
listened to. We perform the duties of freemen; we must 
have the privileges of freemen. Therefore, we demand 
universal suffrage. The suffrage, to be exempt from the 
corruption of the wealthy and the violence of the powerful, 
must be secret. The assertion of our right necessarily in- 
volves the power of our uncontrolled exercise. We ask for 
the reality of a good, not for its semblance, therefore we 
demand the ballot. The connection between the Representa- 
tives and the people, to be beneficial, must be intimate. The 
legislative and constituent powers, for correction and for 
instruction, ought to be brought into frequent contact. Er- 
rors which are comparatively light, when susceptible of a 
speedy popular remedy, may produce the most disastrous 
effects when permitted to grow inveterate through years 
of compulsory endurance. To public safety, as well as 
public confidence, frequent elections are essential. There- 
fore, we demand annual parliaments. With power to choose, 
and freedom in choosing, the range of our choice must be 
unrestricted. W^e are compelled, by the existing laws, to 
take for our representatives men who are incapable of ap- 
preciating our difficulties, or have little sympathy with 
them; merchants who have retired from trade and no longer 
feel its harrassings; proprietors of land who are alike igno- 
rant of its evils and its cure ; law^yers by whom the notoriety 
of the senate is courted only as a means of obtaining notice 
in the courts. The labours of a representative who is sed- 
ulous in the discharge of his duty are numerous and burden- 
some. It is neither just, nor reasonable, nor safe, that they 
should continue to be gratuitously rendered. We demand 
that in the future election of members of your honourable 
house, the approbation of the constituency shall be the sole 
qualification, and that to every representative so chosen, shall 
be assigned out of the public taxes, a fair and adequate re- 
muneration for the time which he is called upon to devote 
to the public service. The management of this mighty king- 
dom has hitherto been a subject for contending factions to 
try their selfish experiments upon. We have felt the con- 
sequences in our sorrowful experience. Short glimmerings 



^ 



CHARTISM, AND CORN -LAW REPEAL 533 

of uncertain enjoyment, swallowed up by long and dark 
seasons of suffering. If the self-government of the people 
should not remove their distresses, it will, at least, remove 
their repinings. Universal suffrage will, and it only can, 
bring true and lasting peace to the nation ; we firmly believe 
that it will also bring prosperity. May it therefore please 
your honourable house, to take this our petition into your 
most serious consideration, and to use your utmost endeav- 
ours, by all constitutional means, to have a law passed, grant- 
ing to every male of lawful age, sane mind, and unconvicted 
of crime, the right of voting for members of parliament to 
be in the way of secret ballot, and ordaining that the duration 
of parliament, so chosen, shall in no case exceed one year, 
and abolishing all property qualifications in the members, 
and providing for their due remuneration while in attendance 
on their parliamentary duties. 

"And your petitioners shall ever pray." 

{History of the Chartist Movement, R. G. Gammage, London, 1894. p. 87.) 

222. Presentation of the National Petition 

Gaminage 

The climax of the Chartist movement occurred upon April loth, 
1839, the date of the presentation of the "monster petition." The 
apprehension of the Government, the attitude of Parliament, and 
the motives and actions of the leaders of the Chartists are well 
shown by the following selection from the works of a prominent 
agitator. 

The ever memorable loth of April arrived, and vast prep- 
arations were made by the Government. Beside the regular 
troops quartered in the metropolis, others poured in from 
Windsor, Hounslow, Chichester, Chatham, Winchester, and 
Dover. The marines and sailors of the Royal Navy at 
Sheerness, Chatham, Birkenhead, Spithead, and other govern- 
ment towns, as well as the dockyard men, were kept under 
arms. The Thames police kept watch upon the mercantile 
marine, lest they should show any leaning towards the 
Chartists. Heavy gun-batteries were brought from Wool- 
wich, and placed at various points. The marines were 
stationed at the Admiralty. Many of the troops were dis- 
posed of secretly, to be ready in case of necessity. The 
mounted police were armed with broad swords and pistols. 
All the public buildings were put in a state of defence. Two 
thousand stand-of-arms were supplied to the general post- 
office, for the use of the clerks and officers of that depart- 
ment, who were all sworn in as special constables; and the 



S34 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

officials at other public places were equally well provided. 
All the steam vessels were ordered to be ready for any 
emergency, in order to convey troops. At the Tower the guns 
were examined, the battlements strengthened by barricades, 
and the troops held in readiness to march at a minute's notice. 
The labourers at the docks were sworn in as specials. The 
city prisons were guarded by military, and the churches were 
converted into barracks. The public vehicles were generally 
withdrawn from the streets. In the city seventy thousand 
persons were sworn in as special constables, and military 
officers commanded them. The royal carriages and horses, 
and other valuables, were removed from the palace. The 
military force amounted to nine thousand men. It being 
believed that the procession would go from Kennington Com- 
mon over Blackfriars Bridge, to the House of Commons, 
great preparations were made in that quarter. At Stepney 
Green, Finsbury-square, and Russell-square, bodies of the 
Chartists met with bands and banners, and paraded the 
streets on their way to Kennington Common, where six 
thousand police, and eight thousand specials were in atten- 
dance. Before eleven o'clock Trafalgar-square was filled 
with police. The approaches of Westminster Bridge were, 
on the Surrey side, guarded by strong bodies of that force, 
and the bridge was placarded with bills, announcing that no 
procession would be allowed to accompany the Petition to 
the House. Every commodious place in the vicinity was 
filled with military, police, or specials. The artillery was also 
present. Various bodies continued to arrive on the Common 
with music and banners, bearing various inscriptions, such as 
"Liberty, Equality, Fraternity" ; "Ireland for the Irish." The 
Convention assembled at nine o'clock, Reynolds occupying 
the chair. The delegates' names were called. When the 
name of Bronterre O'Brien was called, McCarthy said he 
understood O'Brien had resigned, and he wished to know 
when he attended last. Doyle said they had no notice of his 
resignation officially, and he had not attended since the day 
before the proclamation was issued from the Government. 
Doyle also announced that he had received a letter from the 
Commissioner of Police, in reply to one sent by him that the 
route of procession was altered. The letter stated that the 
contemplated procession would on no account be allowed to 
take place. O'Connor delivered a precautionary speech ; 
took the blame off the Government for the preparations they 
had made, and charged it upon those who had talked of an 



» 



CHARTISM, AND CORN-LAW REPEAL 535 

armed demonstration. He said he was prepared to ask the 
meeting" "in the name of courage, in the name of justice, in 
the name of God, not to hold the procession, and thus throw 
their great cause into the hands of the pickpockets and 
scoundrels, and give the Government an opportunity of 
attacking them." He then stated that the preparations had 
been made for shooting from certain windows on the leaders 
of the movement. He was told this by Alderman Humphery 
in the House of Commons, by the police, and others. The 
delegates started from the Convention Room at ten o'clock. 
The procession was headed by a car, decorated with various 
banners, and drawn by four horses. This car was to convey 
the National Petition. This was followed by a second car, 
drawn by six horses, and containing the delegates. On the 
front seat were Feargus O'Connor, Doyle, McGrath, Jones, 
Wheeler, and Harney. This car, like the preceding one, was 
profusely decorated. As the delegates left a body of people 
fell into procession behind them, eight abreast. Having 
arrived at the National Land Company's office, the proces- 
sion stopped to take up the petition. This accomplished, the 
procession resumed its march through Holborn, Farringdon- 
street, and New Bridge-street, to Blackfriar's Bridge. Two 
or three hundred pensioners were on the Steamboat Pier, 
who, on being recognised, were loudly cheered by the people 
in the procession. Quite as many police were on the other 
side of the Bridge, and a little further on were fifty mounted 
police with cutlasses. As far as the Blackfriar's-road most 
of the shops were open, but from the Bridge they were mostly 
closed. The procession at length reached the Common, 
where the several bodies of men, with their bands and ban- 
ners, formed into a dense mass, estimated at from one hun- 
dred and fifty thousand to one hundred and seventy thousand, 
and who burst into loud cheering as the delegates' car came 
upon the Common. . . . 

. . . The meeting being at an end, the Petition was placed 
in three cabs, and the Chartist Executive accompanied it to 
the House of Commons. The police guarded the bridges, 
and for upwards of an hour after the meeting, prevented any 
approach on the part of the people. Some endeavoured to 
effect a passage, but the police used their staves, often with 
very little moderation. The masses did not, however, risk 
a collision with the police, and considering the excitement 
previously existing, the day passed off in a singularly peace- 
ful manner. 



536 



SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 



On the same day O'Connor presented the Petition to the 
House, which he stated was signed by five million seven 
hundred thousand persons. He also presented one for the 
same object, signed by thirty thousand persons. He moved 
that the first Petition be read by the clerk at the table, which 
was accordingly done. Lord Morpeth stated that Sir George 
Grey was unavoidably absent on account of business; but he 
might say for him, that whatever might be his sentiments 
on the prayer of the Petition, he would not wish to appear 
wanting in respect to that or any other petition, signed by 
a large number of his fellow-subjects. The Petition being 
roiled out of the House, Bright presented a petition from 
delegates at Manchester, representing six thousand persons, 
praying for the six points of the Charter; the abolition of 
the law of entail and primogeniture ; a limitation of the 
hours of labour ; and local boards for the regulation of wages. 
Lushington gave notice that on Friday next he would ask 
whether it was the intention of the Government to introduce 
any measure of parliamentary reform during the session. . . . 

On the same day that the last three motions were adopted, 
an important scene occurred in the House of Commons on 
the subject of the National Petition. Thornley brought up 
a report from the Committee on public petitions. He stated 
that with the assistance of thirteen law stationer's clerks, the 
petition which O'Connor had said contained five million seven 
hundred thousand signatures, had been examined, and it was 
found to contain only one million nine hundred and seventy- 
five thousand four hundred and ninety-six, and amongst the 
rest were signatures such as Victoria Rex, the Duke of Wel- 
lington, Sir Robert Peel, Colonel Sibthorpe, etc. There were 
also a large number of fictitious names, such as Pugnose, 
Longnose, Flatnose, Punch, Snooks, Fubbs, and other obscene 
names, which he would not offend the House or its dignity 
by repeating. O'Connor denied that it would be possible for 
thirteen clerks to count one million nine hundred thousand 
signatures in the time, and moved for a committee to enquire 
into the subject. He attributed the fictitious names to 
Government spies. He believed the number of signatures 
he had stated was correct. He did not believe he should 
have any difficulty in obtaining fifteen million or double or 
treble that number. Thornley said the Committee was not 
appointed specially to examine that Petition, but it was ap- 
pointed in the early part of the session, to examine all peti- 
tions presented to the House. O'Connor had stated that the 



CHARTISM, AND CORN -LAW REPEAL 537 

Petition was contained in four large bundles, and it took 
himself and four other persons to lift the largest. The Peti- 
tion had been weighed that morning, and was found to weigh 
5cwt. 48 lbs. The Committee was, he trusted, too well known 
to render any further statement necessary. Lord John Rus- 
sel expressed himself satisfied with the report. The Earl 
of Arundel and Surrey, Maurice O'Connell, and Sir R. H. 
Inglis having spoken, Cripps, one of the Committee, got up 
and confirmed the statement of Thornley, and stated out of 
ten thousand signatures, eight thousand two hundred were 
women. He made some strong remarks upon O'Connor, who 
replied that he could not be answerable for every signature 
contained in the Petition. He had palmed no falsehood upon 
the House, nor had he charged the Committee with practising 
a deception. After he had spoken O'Connor left the House. 

(^History of the Chartist Movement, ed. cit., p. 312.) 



223. Suffering of the ''Lower Classes" 

Contemporary Newspaper 

The following letter to the Sun throws powerful light upon 
the sufferings of the English poor in the days of Chartism and 
Reform. The description of the poverty of the lower classes 
is as vivid as it is painful, and the prophecy with which the 
letter concludes shows the impression made by the conditions 
of the times upon men of thought. 

Sir, — I have been at the siege of Bolton — for nothing but 
some such cause suggests itself as adequate to the phenome- 
non. And is it not a siege ? Not carried on perhaps by any 
enemy within gun-shot, but by one working on a wider 
radius, and making his blockade by sea upon the means of 
life. 

Many sights it has been my chance to see. I think I know 
what is the minimum of help by which horse, ass, dog, hog, 
or monkey, can sustain existence, and when it must go out 
for want of appliances and means of living. But anything 
like the squalid misery, the slow, mouldering, putrefying 
death, by which the weak and the feeble of the working 
classes are perishing here, it never befel my eyes to behold, 
nor my imagination to conceive. And the creatures seem to 
have no idea of resisting or even repining. They sit down 
with Oriental submission, as if it was God, and not the land- 
lord, that was laying hand upon them. And when their 
honourable representative in Parliament gave a description 



538 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

of their sufferings, "liar" was the best word applied to him 
by the organs of tyranny. 

Did you ever set your eyes on a pennyworth of mutton? 
Come here, and you shall see how rations are served out 
under the landlord's state of siege. It might bait a rat-trap; 
though a well-fed rat w^ould hardly risk his personalities for 
such a pittance. Pennyworths of mutton, and halfpenny- 
worths of bread cut off the loaf, are what the shopkeepers 
of Bolton deal out to the inhabitants of their Jerusalem. I 
saw a woman come for one half penny- worth of bread, which 
was to be the dinner of herself and her children twain; and 
when I reflected that of this transparent slice the other one 
was gone to buy the landlord's sack, astonishment possessed 
me at the endurance of that long-bearing ass the public, and 
the extent to which ignorance and divisions will drop the 
rich man's robbery. 

I saw another mother of a family, who said she had not 
tasted meat for many months; and on one of the children 
being sent off to the butcher's for some of the strange luxury, 
she was discovered making many efforts to intercept the 
messager. Her anxiety was to instruct the boy to bring 
back nothing but one pennyworth of bacon; there was a to^ 
morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow, for which she had 
conceived the idea of spinning out existence by means of the 
remainder of the funds. 

If you are curious in human misery, if you are anxious 
to know what a shabby tyranny can bring the rank and file 
to suffer, come, at your leisure, to the "leaguer" of Bolton-, 
and see what the people sleep upon, if they do sleep. Chopped 
dirt, the sweepings of a henhouse, mingled with a portion 
of sparrows' nests, to show that men had heard of straw, 
would be the best representatives of what they huddle upon 
in corners, and call it resting. And all this because Sir 
Having Greedy votes in the House of Commons for closing 
honest trade, as the means of doubling them by confiscation 
of the poor man's bread. 

There is danger in their schemes. Already people of all 
kinds are paradying the sentiment of the Italians — "Ad 
ogni uomo puzza questo barbaro dominion' which may be 
translated for English use, "Neither man nor woman will 
endure this dynasty of clodhoppers." It wants nothing but 
the private of the regiment to know what hurts them, and 
to get rid (as they are doing fast) of the various false lights 
thrown out to induce them to run in every direction that will 



CHARTISM, AND CORN -LAW REPEAL 539 

preserve the evil ; and a quicker end than pleasant may be 
put to mischief, which nobody would remove by an earlier 
application of the prudential virtues. 

{Recollections oj" Richard Cobden and the Anti-Corn Law League, 
H. Ashworth, Lond. p. 36.) 

224. Repeal of the Corn Law 

Levi 

The Anti-Corn-Law movement finally met with the success 
it merited, though not without encountering fierce opposition. 
The landed interest was inimical, almost as a unit. Legislation 
in the interest of the masses found little favour among the 
upper classes of England at that period, and the voice of the 
multitude, reduced to the borders of starvation, was long raised 
in vain. Sir Robert Peel's defection from the opponents of the 
Bill largely aided its ultimate passage, but to Cobham and Bright 
belong the greatest meed of praise for the final triumph of the 
cause of the people. 

The Anti-Corn-Law agitation was one of those movements 
which, being founded on right principles, and in harmony 
with the interests of the masses, was sure to gather fresh 
strength by any event affecting* the supply of food. It was 
popular to attempt to reverse a policy which aimed almost 
exclusively to benefit one class of society. . . . The economic 
theorists had the mass of the people with them. Their 
gatherings were becoming more and more enthusiastic. And 
even amidst Conservative landowners there were not a few 
enlightened and liberal minds who had already, silently at 
least, espoused the new ideas. No change certainly could 
be expected so long as bread was cheap and labour abund- 
ant. But when a deficient harvest and a blight in the 
potato crop crippled the resources of the people and raised 
grain to famine prices, the voice of the League acquired 
greater power and influence. Hitherto they had received 
hundreds of pounds. Now, thousands were sent in to sup- 
port the agitation. A quarter of a million was readily con- 
tributed. Nor were the contributors Lancashire mill-owners 
exclusively. Among them were merchants and bankers, men 
of heart and men of mind, the poor labourer and the peer of 
the realm. The fervid oratory of Bright, the demonstrative 
and argumentative reasoning of Cobden, the more popular 
appeals of Fox, Rawlins, and other platform speakers, filled 
the newspaper press, and were eagerly read. And when 
parliament dissolved in August 1845, even Sir Robert Peel 
showed some slight symptoms of a conviction that the days 



540 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

of the corn laws were numbered. Every day, in truth, 
brought home to his mind a stronger need for action, and as 
the ravages of the potato disease progressed, he saw that all 
further resistance would be absolutely dangerous. A cabinet 
council was held on October 31 to consult as to what 
was to be done, and at an adjourned meeting on Novem- 
ber 5 Sir Robert Peel intimated his intention to issue an 
order in council remitting the duty on grain in bond to one 
shilling, and opening the ports for the admission of all 
species of grain at a smaller rate of duty until a day to be 
named in the order; to call parliament together on the 
27th inst., to ask for an indemnity, and a sanction of the 
order by law; and to submit to parliament immediately 
after the recess a modification of the existing law, including 
the admission at a nominal duty of Indian corn and of 
British colonial corn. A serious difference of opinion, how- 
ever, was found to exist in the cabinet on the question brought 
before them, the only ministers supporting such measures 
being the Earl of Aberdeen, Sir James Graham, and Mr. 
Sidney Herbert. Nor was it easy to induce the other mem- 
bers to listen to reason. And though at a subsequent meet- 
ing, held on November 28, Sir Robert Peel so far secured 
a majority, it was evident that the cabinet was too divi- 
ded to justify him in bringing forward his measures, and 
he decided upon resigning office. This resolution having 
been communicated to the Queen, her Majesty summoned 
Lord John Russell to form a cabinet, and, to smooth his 
path. Sir Robert, Peel, with characteristic frankness, sent 
a memorandum to her Majesty embodying a promise to 
give him his support. But Lord John Russell failed in 
his efforts, and the Queen had no alternative but to recall 
Sir Robert Peel, and give him full power to carry out his 
measures. It was under such circumstances that Parliament 
was called for January 22, 1846, and on January 27 the 
government plan was propounded before a crowded house. 
It was not a immediate repeal of the corn laws that Sir 
Robert Peel recommended. He proposed a temporary pro- 
tection for three years, till February i, 1849, imposing a 
scale during that time ranging from 4s. when the price of 
wheat should be 50s. per quarter and upward, and los. when 
the price of wheat should be under 48s. per quarter, and 
that after that period all grain should be admitted at the 
uniform duty of is. per quarter. The measure, as might 
have been expected, was received in a very different manner 



CHARTISM, AND CORN -LAW REPEAL 541 

by the political parties in both Houses of Parliament. There 
was treason in the conservative camp, and keen and bitter 
was the opposition they offered to their chief. For twelve 
nights speaker after speaker indulged in personal recrimina- 
tions. They recalled to Sir Robert Peel's memory the 
speeches he had made in defence of the corn laws. And as 
to his assertion that he had changed his mind, they denied 
his right to do so. 

. . . The passing of the measure was, however, more than 
certain, and after a debate of twelve nights' duration on Mr. 
Miles, amendment, the Government obtained a majority of 
97, 337 having voted for the motion and 240 against it. And 
from that evening the corn law may be said to have expired. 

(^History of British Commerce, Lond. 1872, p. 292,) 



CHAPTER XXXIII 



AUSTRALIA 



225. The Establishment of the Colony 

(27 Geo. III. c. 2, 1787) 

Barton 

The following Act established the colony of New South 
Wales by extending thereto the criminal jurisdiction of the king. 
Transportation for certain offences had already been determined 
upon, and Australia presented many advantages as a penal settle- 
ment. 

ACT TO ENABLE HIS MAJESTY TO ESTABLISH A CRIMINAL JU- 
DICATURE ON THE EASTERN COAST OF NEW SOUTH WALES 
AND THE PARTS ADJACENT 

Whereas by an Act made and passed in the twenty-fourth 
year of his present Majesty's reign, intituled — An Act for 
the effectual transportation of felons and other offenders, 
and to authorize the removal of prisoners in certain cases, 
and for other purposes therein mentioned, it is enacted that, 
from and after the passing of that Act^ when any person or 
persons at any Sessions of Oyer or Terminer or Gaol Deliv- 
ery, or at any Quarter or other General Session of the Peace 
to be holden for any county, riding, division, city, town, 
borough, liberty, or place, within that part of Great Britain 
called England, or at any Great Session to be holden for the 
County Palatine of Chester, or within the Principality of 
Wales, shall be lawfully convicted of grand or petit larceny, 
or any other offence for which such person or persons shall 
be liable by the laws of this realm to be transported, it shall 
and may be lawful for the Court before which any such 
person or persons shall be convicted as aforesaid, or any sub- 
sequent Court holden at any place for the same county, 
riding, division, city, town, borough, liberty, or place respect- 
ively, with like authority, to order and adjudge that such 
person or persons so convicted as aforesaid shall be trans- 

542 



AUSTRALIA 543 

ported beyond the seas for any term of years not exceeding 
the number of years or terms for which such person or 
persons is or are or shall be liable by any law to be trans- 
ported ; and in any such case it shall or may be lawful for his 
Majesty, by and with the advice of his Privy Council, to de- 
clare and appoint to what place or places, part or parts, 
beyond the seas, either within his Majesty's dominions, or 
elsewhere out of his Majesty's dominions, such felons or 
other offenders shall be conveyed or transported : And such 
Court as aforesaid is thereby authorized and empowered to 
order such offenders to be transferred to the use of any 
person or persons, and his or their assigns, who shall con- 
tract for the due performance of such transportation : 

And when his Majesty, his heirs and successors, shall be 
pleased to extend mercy to any offender or offenders who 
hath or have been, or shall be convicted of any crime or 
crimes, for which he, she, or they is or shall be by law ex- 
cluded from the benefit of clergy, upon condition of trans- 
portation to any place or places, part or parts, beyond the 
seas, either for term of life, or any number of years, and 
such extension of mercy shall be signified by one of his Ma- 
jesty's Principal Secretaries of State, it shall be lawful for 
any Court, having proper authority, to allow such offender 
or offenders the benefit of a conditional pardon, and (except 
in cases where such offenders shall be authorized by his 
Majesty to transport himself, herself, or themselves) to order 
the transfer of such offender or offenders to any person or 
persons who shall contract for the due performance of such 
transportation, and his or their assigns, for such and the 
same term of years for which any such offender or offenders 
shall have been ordered to be transported, or for such term 
of life or years as shall be specified in such condition of 
transportation : 

And whereas Sir James Eyre, Knight, and Sir Beaumont 
oil, bearing date respectively on the sixth day of December, 
1786, hath judged fit, by and with the advice of his Privy 
Council, to declare and appoint the place to which certain 
offenders named in two lists to the said several Orders-in- 
Council annexed, should be transported for the time or term 
in their several sentences mentioned, to be the eastern coast 
of New South Wales, or some one or other of the islands ad- 
jacent : 

And whereas Sir James Eyre, Knight, and Sir Beaumont 
Hotham, Knight, two of the Borons of his Majesty's Court of 



544 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

Exchequer of the degree of coiffe, according to the au- 
thority of them given by the said statute, did, on the thir- 
teenth day of December, 1786, order that the said several 
offenders, in the said several lists to the said several Orders- 
in-Council annexed, should be transported to the place and 
for the time and terms aforesaid: 

And whereas it may be found necessary that a colony and 
a civil Government should be established in the place to 
which such convicts shall be transported, under and by virtue 
of the said Act of Parliament, the said two several Orders-of- 
Council, and other the said above-recited Orders, and that a 
Court of Criminal Jurisdiction should also be established 
within such place as aforesaid, with authority to proceed in 
a more summary way than is used within this realm, accord- 
ing to the known and established laws thereof: 

Be it therefore enacted by the King's Most Excellent Ma- 
jesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords 
Spiritual and Temporal and Commons, in this present Parlia- 
ment assembled, and by the authority of the same, that his 
Majesty may, by his Commission under the Great Seal, au- 
thorise the person to be appointed Governor, or the Lieuten- 
ant-Governor in the absence of the Governor, at such place 
as aforesaid, to convene from time to time, as occasion may 
require, a Court of Jurdicature for the trial and punishment 
of all such outrage and misbehaviours as, if committed with- 
in this realm, would be deemed and taken, according to the 
laws of this realm, to be treason or misprison thereof, felony 
or misdemeanor, which Court shall consist of the Judge- 
Advocate, to be appointed in and for such a place, together 
with six officers of his Majesty's forces by sea or land: 

Which Court shall proceed to try such offenders by calling 
such offenders respectively before that Court, and causing 
the charge against him, her, or them respectively, to be read 
over, which charge shall always be reduced into writing, and 
shall be exhibited to the said Court by the Judge-Advocate, 
and by examining witnesses upon oath, to be administered 
by such Court, as well for as against such offenders respect- 
ively, and afterwards adjudging by the major part of the 
persons composing such Court, that the party accused is or is 
not (as the case shall appear to them) guilty of the charge, 
and by pronouncing judgment therein (as upon a conviction 
by verdict) of death, if the offence be capital, or of such 
corporal punishment not extending to capital punishment, as 
to the said Court shall seem meet; and in case not capital, 



AUSTRALIA 545 

by pronouncing punishment of such corporal punishment, 
not extending to life or limb, as to the said Court shall seem 
meet. 

II. And be it further enacted that the Provost-Marshal, 
or other officer to be for that purpose appointed by such 
Governor or Lieutenant-Governor, shall cause due execu- 
tion of such judgment to be had and made under and ac- 
cording to the warrant of such Governor or Lieutenant- 
Governor in the absence of the Governor, under his hand 
and seal, and no otherwise : 

Provided always that execution shall not be .had or done 
on any capital convict or convicts, unless five persons present 
in such Court shall concur in adjudging him, her, or them, 
so accused and tried as aforesaid, to be respectively guilty, 
and until the proceedings shall have been transmitted to his 
ISIajesty and by him approved. 

III. And be it so enacted by the authority aforesaid that the 
said Court shall be a Court of Record, and shall have all such 
powers as by the laws of England are incident and belonging 
to a Court of Record. 

(^History of New South Wales from the Records^ G. B. Barton, 
Lond. and Sidney, 1889. I, 453). 

226. The First Penal Settlement 

Barton 

In 1786 there was drawn up the following plan for the estab- 
lishment of a penal settlement in New South Wales. The 
document given is not the first submitted, but it is that which 
contains the plan nearest that which was adopted. The result 
was the famous "first fleet," which in 1788 sailed for Botany 
Bay. Although the experiment was not an unqualified success, 
it was sufficiently so to warrant the continuance of the penal 
settlements in xA.ustralia. All of these settlements were gener- 
ically known as Botany Bay, although the spot to which that 
title belonged was soon abandoned. It was not for many years 
that Australia was able to free herself from the unjust reproach 
of being inhabited mainly by convicts. 

HEADS OF A PLAN 

For effectually disposing of convicts, and rendering their 
transportation reciprocally beneficial both to themselves and 
to the State, by the establishment of a colony in New South 
Wales, a country which, by the fertility and salubrity of the 
climate, connected with the remoteness of its situation (from 
whence it is hardly possible for persons to return without 
permission), seems peculiarly adapted to answer the views 
of Government with respect to the providing a remedy for 
the evils likely to result from the late alarming and numer- 



546 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

ous increase of felons in this country, and more particularly 
in the metropolis. 

It is proposed that a ship-of-war of a proper class, with a 
part of her guns mounted, and a sufficient number of men 
on board for her navigation, and a tender of about two hun- 
dred tons burthen, commanded by discreet officers, should 
be got ready as soon as possible to serve as an escort to the 
convict ships, and for other purposes hereinafter mentioned. 

That, in addition to their crews, they should take on board 
two companies of marines, to form a military establishment 
on shore, not only for the protection of the settlement, if 
required, against the natives, but for the preservation of 
good order, together with an assortment of stores, and uten- 
sils and implements necessary for erecting habitations and 
for agriculture; and such quantities of provisions as may 
be proper for the use of the crews. 

As many of the marines as possible should be artificers, 
such as carpenters, surveyors, smiths, potters, if possible, 
and some husbandmen. To have a chaplain on board, with a 
surgeon and one mate at least, the former to remain at the 
settlement. 

That these vessels should touch at the Cape of Good Hope, 
or any other places that may be convenient, for any seed that 
may be requisite to be taken from thence, and for such live 
stock as they can possibly contain, which it is supposed can 
be procured there without any sort of difficulty, and at the 
most reasonable rates, for the use of the settlement at large. 

That Government should immediately provide a certain 
number of ships of a proper burthen to receive on board at 
least seven or eight hundred convicts, and that one of them 
should be properly fitted for the accommodation of the 
women, to prevent their intercourse with the men. 

That these ships should take on board as much provisions 
as they can possibly stow, or at least a sufficient quantity for 
two years' consumption, supposing one year's to be issued 
at whole allowance, and the other year's provisions at half- 
allowance, which will last two years longer; by which time 
it is presumed that the colony, with the live stock and grain 
which may be raised by a common industry on the part of the 
new settlers, will be fully sufficient for their maintenance 
and support. 

That, in addition to the crews of the ships appointed to 
contain the convicts, a company of marines should be divided 
between them, to be employed as guards for preventing ill 



AUSTRALIA 547 

consequences that might arise from dissatisfaction amongst 
the convicts, and for the protection of the crews in the navi- 
gation of the ships from insults that might be offered by the 
convicts. 

That each of the ships should have on board at least two 
surgeons' mates to attend to the wants of the sick, and should 
be supplied with a proper assortment of medicine and instru- 
ments, and that two of them should remain with the settle- 
ment. 

After the arrival of the ships which are intended to convey 
the convicts, the ship-of-war and tender may be employed in 
obtaining live stock from the Cape, or from the Molucca 
Islands, a sufficient quantity of which may be brought from 
either of those places to the new settlement, in two or three 
trips; or the tender, if it should be thought most advisable, 
may be employed in conveying to the new settlement a 
further number of women from the Friendly Islands, New 
Caledonia, etc., which are contiguous thereto, and from 
whence any number may be procured without difficulty; and 
without a sufficient proportion of that sex it is well known 
that it would be impossible to preserve the settlement from 
gross irregularities and disorders. 

The whole regulation and management of the settlement 
should be committed to the care of a discreet officer, and 
provision should be made in all cases, both civil and military, 
by special instructions under the Great Seal, or otherwise, 
as may be thought proper. 

Upon the whole, it may be observed with great force and 
truth, that the difference of expense (whatever method of 
carrying the convicts thither may be adopted) between this 
mode of disposing of them, and that of the usual ineffectual 
one, is too trivial to be a consideration with Government, 
at least in comparison with the great object to be obtained 
by it, especially now the evil is increased to such an alarm- 
ing degree, from the inadequacy of all other expedients that 
have hitherto been tried or suggested. 

It may not be amiss to remark in favour of this plan that 
considerable advantage will arise from the cultivation of the 
New Zealand hemp or flax plant in the new intended settle- 
ment, the supply of which would be of great consequence to us 
as a naval power, as our manufacturers are of opinion that 
canvas made of it would be superior in strength and beauty to 
any canvas made of the European material, and that a cable 
of the circumference of ten inches, made from the former, 



54^ 



SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 



would be superior in strength to one of eighteen inches made 
of the latter. The threads or filaments of this New Zealand 
plant are formed by nature with the most exquisite delicacy, 
and may be so minutely divided as to be manufactured into 
the finest linens. 

Most of the Asiatic productions may also, without doubt, 
be cultivated in the new settlement, and in a few years may 
render our recourse to our European neighbours for those 
productions unnecessary. 

It may also be proper to attend to the possibility of 
procuring from New Zealand any quantity of mast and 
ship timber for the use of our fleet in India, as the distance 
between the two countries is not greater than between Great 
Britain and America. It grows close to the water's edge, is 
of size and quality superior to any hitherto known, and may 
be obtained without difficulty. 

STAFF ESTABLISHMENT FOR THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW SOUTH 

WALES Yearly Salary 

The Naval Commander appointed Governor or ^ ■''• ^^ 
Superintendent-General 500 

The Commanding Officer of the Marines to be 
appointed Lieutenant-Governor or Deputy 
Superintendent 250 o o 

The Commissary of Stores and Provisions, for 
himself and assistants, to be appointed or 
named by the contractors for the provisions 200 o o 

Pay of a Surgeon . . , . . £182 10 o 

Pay of two mates 182 10 365 10 o 

Chaplain 182 10 o 

£1,497 10 ^ 

STIMATE OF CLOTHING TO SERVE A MALE CONVICT FOR ONE 

YEAR Value each 

No. s. d. £ s. d. 

Jackets 2 46 090 

Woollen drawers , . . . 4 20 080 

Hat I 26 026 

Shirts 3 30 090 

Worsted stockings .... 4 10 040 

Frocks 3 23 069 

Trousers 3 23 069 

Shoes 3 46 0136 

_ £2 19 6 



AUSTRALIA 549 

The expense of clothing female convicts may be computed 
to amount to like sum. 

{History of New So7ith Wales, ed. cit., I, 432.) 

227. Discovery of Gold 

E. Hargraves 

The discovery of gold in Australia marked an epoch in the 
history of that country. Thitherto the vast expanse of territory 
had been considered of value only for the purposes of stock- 
raising; but under the new conditions resulting from the dis- 
covery of the precious metal the standing of the country was 
revolutionized. Crowds flocked to its shores, and cities rose as 
if by enchantment. The question of the actual discoverer of 
gold has never been determined, but Mr. Hargraves, whose ac- 
count is given below, was the first to make the discovery known 
to the world, and so is fairly entitled to the honour of dis- 
coverer. 

To the particulars of my own discovery I now proceed. I 
have already in a former chapter stated my reasons for 
believing in the existence of gold fields in New South Wales. 
It was with an anxious heart, therefore, that I again landed 
at Sydney, in the month of January, 185 1. On my passage 
thither and immediately on my arrival, I made known to my 
friends and companions my confident expectations on the 
subject; one and all, however, derided me, and treated my 
views and opinions as those of a madman. Still undaunted, 
on the 5th of February I set out from Sydney on horseback 
alone to cross the Blue Mountains. . . . 

After resting one day at Guyong, on the 12th of February 
I started thence, accompanied by young Lister. Our course 
was down the Lewes Pond Creek, a tributary to the Summer 
Flill Creek, which again is a tributary of the Macquarie 
River, After traveling a distance of about fifteen miles, I 
found myself in the country that I was anxiously longing to 
behold again. My recollection of it had not deceived me. 
The resemblance of its formation to that of California could 
not be doubted or mistaken. I felt myself surrounded by 
gold ; and with tremulous anxiet}^ panted for the moment of 
trial, when my magician's wand should transform this track- 
less wilderness into a region of countless wealth. 

Still one difficulty seemed to present itself. There had 
been an unusual drought during the summer, which was now 
drawing to a close, and the creek, where we then were, was 
completely dried up. My guide, however, in answer to my 
inquiries told me that we should find water lower down; so, 



S50 



SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 



following its course, we soon fell in with some rocks which 
contained a sufficient supply. 

We now turned out our horses, and seated ourselves on 
the turf, as it was necessary to satisfy the cravings of hunger 
before I ventured on my grand experiment. Had that failed, 
but little appetite for food would have been left me. 

My guide went for water to drink, and, after making a 
hasty repast, I told him that we were now in the gold fields, 
and that the gold was under his feet as he went to fetch the 
water for our dinner. He started with incredulous amaze- 
ment, and, on my telling him that I would now find some 
gold,' watched my movements with the most intense interest. 
My own excitement, probably, was far more intense than his. 
I took the pick and scratched the gravel off a schistose dyke, 
which ran across the creek at right angles with its sides ; and, 
with the trowel, I dug a panful of earth, which I washed in 
the water-hole. The first trial produced a little piece of 
gold. "Here it is!" I exclaimed; and I then washed five 
panfuls in succession, obtaining gold from all but one. 

No further proof was necessary. To describe my feelings 
at that eventful moment would be impossible. What I said 
on the instant — though, I must admit, not warranted as the 
language of calm reflection — has been since much laughed 
at. And though my readers may renew the laugh, I shaU not 
hesitate to repeat it, because, as it was the natural and im- 
pulsive impression of my overwrought feelings at the mo- 
ment, so is it the only account I can now give of what those 
feelings were. 

"This," I exclaimed to my guide, "is a memorable day in 
the history of New South Wales. I shall be a baronet, you 
will be knighted, and my old horse will.be stuffed, put into 
a glass-case, and sent to the British Museum !" 

At that instant I felt myself to be a great man. I was as 
mad, perhaps, at the moment, as Don Quixote was his life 
through; and assuredly, my companion was as simple as 
Sancho Panza — for the good youth afterwards told me, he 
expected I should obtain for him the honour I had promised. 
On our return that night to the inn at Guyong, I wrote a 
memorandum of the discovery, which I afterwards gave to 
the Colonial Secretary, as a memorial of the great event. 

(^Australia and its Gold Fields, ed. Hammond, Lond., 1855. p. 11 1.) 



AUSTRALIA S5i 

228. Results of the Finding of Gold 

Co?tte7nporary Pamphlet 

The following account of the consequences of the discovery 
of gold is of great interest. It is written with thought as well 
as care, and the evil as well as the good results likely to accrue 
are pointed out. The former were averted by the good sense 
of the Australians, although at one time it seemed as if the coun- 
try would fall into a worse condition than that which existed 
when the colony was only a penal settlement. 

The first results of the Australian gold discoveries are now 
displayed in a tangible, unmistakable shape — individual loss, 
individual suffering, by the diversion of capital and labour. 
There may be many carried away by mere enthusiasm, who 
will rue the day they abandoned the certain easy employ- 
ments of civilized life for the hard navigator-like trade of a 
gold-seeker ; but the advantage of this new mineral discovery 
is unquestionable, in spite of all that croakers may say and 
sing. 

Up to the middle of May, 185 1, as heretofore shown, the 
colonial heart beat high with hope. Trade was good; the 
pastoral interests were flourishing; the country properties, 
as a matter of course, were improving; and the introduction 
of the alpaca, the extended culture of the vine, and the 
growth of cotton, appeared to present new and rich sources 
of wealth. At that moment came the discovery of the gold 
fields; and a shock was communicated to the whole indus- 
trial system, which to some people seemed to threaten almost 
annihilation. The idea was, that gold digging would swallow 
up all other pursuits, and the flocks perish in the wilderness 
from the want of shepherds. Nor was this altogether with- 
out foundation; for the stockholders have actually been con- 
siderable sufferers: all the industrial projects mentioned 
have been stopped short ; and the gold-diggings still continue 
to attract to themselves, as if by a spell, the labour of the 
country. The panic, however, has now subsided. It is seen 
that the result is not so bad as was anticipated, and it is now 
rendered evident that the evil will go no further. A stream 
of population, it is thought, wnll be directed to Australia 
from abroad, and the labour not demanded by gold may suf- 
fice for other ptirsuits. 

Already upwards of two millions sterling have been real- 
ised by the rude exertions of part of a poptilation which has 
never yet exported more than three millions of raw produce; 
and with the evidence now before us, we may confidently 



552 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

assert, that although there will be a temporary diminution in 
the exportation of Australian wool under new arrangements, 
the flocks of Australia will not be destroyed. 

The Australian population have stood the test of gold 
wonderfully, and come out of the trial with honour. Their 
conduct, as a body, has been singularly orderly and sub- 
missive to the constituted authorities. 

Two very healthy signs are displayed by the Australian 
diggers — the multiplication of marriages and the large con- 
sumption of the best articles of female attire. 

At Port Phillip it is impossible to retain a tidy servant 
girl. The first luxury to which the successful gold-seeker 
treats himself on his return for a holiday is a wife, and the 
wife is then treated to the best gowns and shawls that the 
shops afford. A friend writes that "the carpenters and 
smiths of Melbourne and Geelong will not let their wifes be 
seen in a gown of less cost than ten pounds, with a shawl and 
bonnet to match." 

Whatever may be the taste of the workers from the Turon 
or Braidwood, Ballarat and Mount Alexander, it is certain 
that what they purchase they honestly pay for, and no one 
will suffer for their gains. The advantage, in a commercial 
point of view, is obvious. The man who was earning before 
£20 or £40 a year, of which, perhaps, he spent one-half in 
manufactures, can now afford to spend — and does spend — 
from £100 to £500 a year. The tales of wild extravagance 
are grossly exaggerated, and not at all to be depended upon. 
On the best authority, we can assert that the colonists are 
spending and investing their money in a very creditable 
manner. Among other proofs may be cited the circumstance 
of two thousand pounds received in gold-dust in less than 
seven wxeks after his arrival at Port Phillip, by Captain 
Chisholm, from working men, to pay the passage of their 
relatives. 

Now that so strong a stream of self-paid emigration is 
flowing, the sooner the Government free emigration is given 
up the better for the mother country and for the colonies. 
Many a man does not save as he could, to pay his own 
passage, because he hopes to win a prize in the Government 
lottery. 

Education, and free, liberal education, is in truth the only 
thing required in Australia. Education, established and ex- 
tended from the time the May Flower landed her Puritan 
freight on the bleak shores of New England, until the time 



AUSTRALIA 553 

when the progress of commerce brought r. deluge of emigrant 
ignorance, has saved America under a different form of Gov- 
ernment, and neutralized the effect of the late annual inva- 
sion of the uneducated. But in Australia no such provision 
exists, or is possible. And if England goes on annually in- 
oculating the gold fields with illiterate strong arms, the 
feeble efforts made by Australia to redeem the errors of past 
educational neglect, will never be able to overtake and arrest 
the disease. 

{Australia (pamphlet), B. Fabian, N. Y., 1852. p. 77.) 



CHAPTER XXXIV 



THE INDIAN EMPIRE 



229. The English at Surat and Bombay 

Fryer 

Dr. Fryer, a surgeon in the service of the East India Com- 
pany, visited Surat in 1674. His travels were published in 
London in 1698. They contain a graphic account of the manner 
in which the Company conducted its affairs in India. 

The house the English live in at Surat, is partly the King's 
gift, partly hired; built of stone and excellent timber, with 
good carving, w^ithout representations ; very strong, for that 
each floor is half a yard thick at least, of the best plastered 
cement, which is very weighty. It is contrived after the 
Moor's buildings, with upper and lower galleries, or terrace- 
walks; a neat Oratory, a convenient open place for meals. 
The President has spacious lodgings, noble rooms for counsel 
and entertainment, pleasant tanks, yards, and a hummum to 
wash in; but no gardens in the city, or very few, though 
without the city they have many, like wildernesses, over- 
spread with trees. The English had a neat one, but Sevaji's 
coming destroyed it. It is known, as the other Factories are, 
by their several flags flying. 

Here they live (in shipping-time) in a continual hurly- 
burly, the Banians presenting themselves from the hour of 
ten till noon; and then afternoon at four till night, as if it 
were an Exchange in every row; below stairs, the packers 
and warehouse-keepers, together with merchants bringing 
and receiving musters, make a mere Billinsgate; for if you 
make not a noise, they hardly think you intent on what you 
are doing. 

Among the English, the business is distributed into four 
offices; the Accompant, who is next in dignity to the Pres- 
ident, the general accompts of all India, as well as this place, 
passing through his hands; he is quasi Treasurer, signing 
all things, though the broker keep the cash. Next him is the 

554 



THE INDIAN EMPIRE 555 

warehouse-keeper, who registers all Europe goods vended, 
and receives all Eastern commodities bought; under him is 
the Purser Marine, who gives account of all goods exported 
and imported, pays seamen their w^ages, provides wagons 
and porters, looks after tackling for ships, and ships' stores. 
Last of all is the Secretary, who models all Consultations, 
writes all letters, carries them to the President and Council 
to be perused and signed; keeps the Company's seal, which 
is affixed to all passes and commissions; records all trans- 
actions, and sends copies of them to the Company; though 
none of these, without the President's approbation, can act 
or do any thing. The affairs of India are solely under his 
regulation; from him issue out all orders, by him all prefer- 
ment is disposed; by which means the Council are biassed 
by his arbitrament. 

The whole mass of the Company's servants may be com- 
prehended in these classes, viz. : Merchants, Factors, and 
Writers; some Bluecoat Boys also have been entertained 
under notion of apprentices for seven years, which being ex- 
pired, if they can get security, they are capable of employ- 
ments. The Writers are obliged to serve five years for lo Z. 
per Ann. Giving in a bond of 500 /. for good behaviour, all 
which time they serve under some of the forementioned 
Officers : After which they commence Factors, and rise to 
preferment and trust, according to seniority or favour, and 
therefore have a 1,000 I. bond exacted from them, and have 
their salary augmented to 20 I. per Ann. for three years, then 
entering into new indentures, are made Senior Factors; and 
lastly, Merchants after Three Years more ; out of whom are 
chose Chiefs of Factories, as places fall, and are allowed 40 /. 
per Ann. during their stay in the Company's service, besides 
lodgings and victuals at the Company's charges. 

These in their several Seigniories behave themselves after 
the fundamentals of Surat, and in their respective Factories 
live in the like grandeur; from whence they rise successively 
to be of the Council in Surat, which is the great Council ; and 
if the President do not contradict, are sworn, and take their 
place accordingly, which consists of about five in number, 
besides the president, to be constantly resident. 

As for the Presidency, though the Company interpose a 
deserving man, yet they keep that power to themselves, none 
assuming that dignity till confirmed by them: His salary 
from the Company is 500 /. a year ; half paid here, the other 
half reserved to be received at home, in case of misdemeanour 



556 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

to make satisfaction; beside a bond of 5,000 /. sterling of 
good securities. 

The Accountant has y2 I. per Ann., fifty pound paid here, 
the other at home: All the rest are half paid here, half at 
home, except the Writers, who have all paid here. 

Out of the Council are elected the Deputy-Governor of 
Bombay, and Agent of Persia ; the first a place of great trust, 
the other of profit; though, by the appointment from the 
Company, the Second of India claims Bombay, and the Sec- 
retary of Surat the Agency of Persia, which is connived at, 
and made subject to the will of the President, by the interest 
of those whose lot they are; chusing rather to reside here, 
where consignments compensate those emoluments ; so that 
none of the council, if noted in England, but makes consid- 
erably by his place, after the rate of five in the hundred, 
commission; and this is the Jacob's ladder by which they 
ascend. 

It would be too mean to descend to indirect ways, which 
are chiefly managed by the Banians, the fittest tools for any 
deceitful undertaking; out of whom are made brokers for 
the Company, and private persons, who are allowed two per 
cent, on all bargains, besides what they squeeze secretly out 
of the price of things bought; w^hich cannot be well under- 
stood for want of knowledge in their language ; which ignor- 
ance is safer, than to hazard being poisoned for prying too 
nearly into their actions : Though the Company, to encourage 
young men in their service, maintain a master to learn them 
to write and read the language, and an annuity to be annexed 
when they gain a perfection therein, which few attempt, and 
fewer attain. 

To this Factory belong twenty persons in number, reckon- 
ing Swally Marine into the account; a Minister for Divine 
Service, a Surgeon, and when the President is here, a guard 
of English soldiers, consisting of a double file led by a Ser- 
jeant. 

The present Deputy has only forty Moor-men, and a flag- 
man, carrying St. George his colours swallow-tailed in silk, 
fastened to a silver partisan; with a small attendance of 
horse with silver bridles, and furniture for the gentlemen of 
the house, and coaches for ladies and Council. 

The President besides these has a noise of trumpets, and 
is carried himself in a Palenkeen, a horse of state led before 
him, a Mirchal (a fan of ostriches' feathers) to keep off the 
sun, as the Omr?ihs or great men have, none but the Emperor 



THE INDIAN EMPIRE 557 

have a Sumbrero among the Moguls : Besides these, every 
one according to his quality has his menial servants to wait 
on him in his chamber, and follow him out. . . . 

But lest the New Company should be exclaimed against as 
too greedy monopolizers, they permit free traders on their 
Island Bombay ; when, to speak truth, they are in a far worse 
condition than their servants ; being tied up without hopes 
of raising themselves : so that in earnest they find out that 
to be but a trick. 

However, to confess on the Company's behalf, the trade 
(I mean on this coast) for some years lately passed has 
hardly balanced expenses. They employing yearly forty sail 
of stout ships to and from all parts where they trade, out and 
home ; manning and maintaining their Island Bombay, Fort 
St. George, and St. Helens : besides large sums expended to 
bear out the port of their Factors; which notwithstanding 
by impartial computation has been found inferior to the 
costs of the Hollanders, and therefore more to the profit of 
the English East India Company, than theirs, in the few 
years they have adventured; so that I should mightily blame 
them should they prove ungrateful to His Majesty, who by 
his gracious favour has united them in a society, whereby 
they are competitors for riches (though not strength) with 
the notedest Company in the universe. 

This Charter was granted presently after the happy res- 
toration of our Gracious Sovereign, when order began to 
dawn, and dispel the dark chaos of popular community : Then 
was sent out a President, to put their Charter in force, and 
establish a graduation among their servants, which before 
was not observed ; only for order's sake, they did nominate 
an Agent; the rest being independent, made no distinction. 
When as now, after a better model, they commence accord- 
ing to their standing, and are under a collegiate manner of 
restraint. 

(New Account of East India and Persia, John Fryer, M. D., London, 1698. 
Reprinted in Early Records of British India, J. T. Wheeler, London, 1878.) 

230. Letter of Warren Hastings 

Hastings 

The following letter from Warren Hastings is interesting as 
setting forth his side of the discussion which resulted in his 
impeachment. Being a private letter to a personal friend, it is 
unlikely that the former ruler of India w'ould therein defend 
himself against accusation unless he at least believed that the 
defence was justifiable. Hastings' trial was memorable in the 
history of India, for the reason that, whether or not he was 



558 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

guilty of the crimes imputed to him, it served as a warning to 
future rulers in their transactions with the natives. They 
learned that there was retribution in store for cruelty and op- 
pression, and that the "pagoda-tree" could not be robbed with 
impunity. 

TO SIR JOHN SHORE 

St. James's Place, 19th February, 1787. 

Dear Shore, — As I have now every reason to believe that 
an impeachment w^ill be carried against me to the House of 
Lords, and have had a severe warning given me not to trust 
to my own integrity, or services, as I may conceive them, for 
the event, — and as I fear no issue of the trial so much as 
its influence upon my future and lasting reputation, — I ap- 
ply to you, my friend, to afford me such assistance as, I hope, 
may be in your power to obviate such a conclusion, by col- 
lecting the testimonials of the most respectable inhabitants 
of the province of Bengal, and such other creditable vouchers, 
of whatever kind, beyond the provinces, as may refute the 
calumnies with which I have been loaded, and ascertain 
whatever pretentions I may have to more positive merit. 

I am charged with cruelty, oppression, violation of treaties, 
and with the general guilt of having sacrificed every duty to 
the views of interest, ambition, or private vengeance. I am 
not sure that rapacity makes a part of the catalogue of my 
imputed crimes, because the instances which have been ad- 
duced in evidence to prove it apply only to acts done for the 
relief of public necessities, and it is scarcely (I believe not 
at all) insinuated, that I have practiced it for any profit of 
my own. 

I wish to make my appeal to the justice and generosity of 
those to whom it best appertains to pronounce upon my real 
character, according to their several relations or concerns 
with the government of Bengal during the periods in which 
I held an efficient share in its powers ; that they may declare 
whether I deserve these imputations, or whether I am entitled 
to their testimony of the reverse. 

Whether I have extorted money from individuals to gratify 
my own avarice ; or whether I have not notoriously abstained 
from every means which might have promoted my own in- 
terest, with the injury of individuals or the public: 

Whether I have countenanced, or permitted; or whether 
I have not, on the contrary, to the utmost of my power pre- 
vented men in office or favour from oppressing or plunder- 



THE INDIAN EMPIRE 559 

ing those who were subjected to their authority or influ- 
ence: 

Whether the provinces have been infested with robbers, 
or plundering Seneassies, as much during my administration 
as in the times preceding it : 

Whether the provinces have suffered the calamities either 
of war or famine during my administration ; or whether they 
have not enjoyed both uninterrupted peace and abundance, 
though our Government and nation were for years engaged 
in wars with powerful states and neighbours, and were at 
one time threatened with a dearth from the same causes 
which produced one in 1768: 

Whether I have oppressed the reiats by intolerable or un- 
equal taxes, for the public service ; or whether I have not 
rather multiplied the sources of the public wealth, and equal- 
ised the burthens imposed on the people. 

Whether I have neglected the administration of justice; 
or whether I have not established Courts of Civil and Crim- 
inal Justice, and supported both in the exercise of their func- 
tions beyond the experience of any former times : 

Whether I have offended, or discountenanced the laws, 
customs, and religious worship of the country; or whether I 
have not respected, protected, and conformed to them : 

Whether I have shown a disregard to science ; or whether 
I have not, on the contrary, by public endowments, by per- 
sona! attentions, and by the selection of men for appointments 
suited to their talents, given effectual encouragement to it : 

Whether in my public negociations, and in my general 
intercourse, I have made use of artifice and trick, or of truth 
and plain-dealing: 

Whether I have affected a display of state ; whether I have 
ever shown an inordinate solicitude for my personal safety ; 
or whether I have not been thought to err in the opposite 
extremes : 

Whether I left the country in a worse or in a better state 
of population and cultivation than I found it: 

And lastly, whether the English name, power, and influ- 
ence were ever greater, more respected, or more extensively 
known in India before than during my administration, and 
particularly at the close of it. 

The persons who can be most instrumental in collecting 
the suffrages which I require, are Gunga Govin Sing; Allee 
Ibraheem Cawn ; Beneram, or Bissumbes Pundit; Rajah Go- 
vindram; Tofuzzel Hossein Cawn; Mowlary Majud O'Deen. 



5«o- SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

or his brother Muftee Ahmed; and I believe I may venture 
to join Mahdajee Sindia. I would wish at least to have his 
testimony, and those of every other chief with whom our Gov- 
ernment was in connexion; Moodajee, the ministers of Poona, 
Nizam al Moolk, Assof o'Dowlah, and the Nabob Wallah 
Jah. 

I cannot prescribe the means. Perhaps I have been too 
particular in detailing the ends. But you must make al- 
lowance for my anxiety, and the cause which I have to make 
me more than ordinarily anxious. 

If you think that you can undertake this commission with 
an assurance of its complete execution, you will of course (as 
I should on every account wish) first propose it to Lord 
Cornwallis for his approbation. If he objects to it, there 
must of course be an end to it. Even from the little which I 
know of his Lordship, and from his general character, I give 
him credit for qualities incompatible with such a supposition, 
and assure myself besides that he w^ill not in Bengal have 
changed the opinion which he entertained of me in England 
for a worse. 

I wil not ask your forgiveness for wishing to impose on 
you so much trouble; but I ought if I thought that it might 
eventually draw on you the same enmities which are now 
directed at me. I confess, I think such may be the conse- 
quence, though I rather hope that the crisis of this phrenzy 
may terminate with me. If it does not, I am not sure that 
any conduct will be a safeguard against it. 

You will readily comprehend that I do not mean to use the 
justification which I solicit from your means for any purpose 
of meeting the impending trial ; for though I am certain that 
every artifice will be put in practice to protect it, it will be 
impossible to extend the delay beyond another sessions; I 
mean another after the present. The result, therefore, of this 
plan can be of no other benefit to me than that of retrieving 
my character from the injury which it may have received 
from the present prosecution, and its legal consequences. 
These must all have ceased long before the result of my com- 
mission can arrive in England. I am not sure that the House 
of Commons will vote an impeachinent. I cannot be certain 
that the same prejudices, the same intrigues, and the same 
influence may not follow me into the House of Lords, though 
in judicial matters the character of that assembly stands 
hitherto unimpeached. But I have been told by judgments 
much better informed than those of common men, that much 



I 



THE INDIAN EMPIRE 561 

is to be apprehended, even in that assembly, from the respect 
paid to a decided judgment of the House of Commons, and 
yet more to the ascribed inclination of the minister; and I 
myself have my doubts of another kind. The charges may 
prove so numerous and complicated, that every mind will not 
be able to comprehend them, or to retain even what they do 
comprehend; and the tedious and artificial examination of 
the witnesses to every charge will, with other process, take 
up such a length of time, that the aged, infirm, and indiffer- 
ent will not sit out the trial. I may therefore lose many ver- 
dicts in my favour. None will be lost to those which are 
predetermined against me. I am almost ashamed of these 
suspicions, yet, after what has passed, how can I avoid them ? 
I have been condemned by one assembly for having intended 
by a resolution, which was confined to my own breast, to ex- 
act a fine from Cheyt Sing exceeding his offences, admitted 
to be great, and a fine, if moderate, admitted to be a legal and 
proper punishment. I have been condemned for permitting 
the jagheers and treasures to be taken from the mother of 
the Nabod Assof o'Dowlah, because in the evidence adduced 
by my prosecutor to prove my guilt, I had not brought proofs 
sufficient of the Begum's rebellion against her sovereign, and 
hostility to our nation ; though the charge, black and ran- 
corous as it is, and the admired harangue of the mover of the 
charge, fabricated with the labour of months, and the combi- 
nation of all the powers of a great party, both stated in terms 
that the money produced by these exactions was applied to 
the relief of the public necessities, and they have not dared 
to suggest that I took or attempted to take any part of it to 
my own use. Let, however, this business end as it will, a 
great portion of mankind will think they judge with candour, 
if, unable to comprehend any part of the accusations, they 
acquit me, at a guess, of some, and conclude that where so 
much is alleged against me, much of it must be necessarily 
true. The plan which I have recommended may be product- 
ive of that species of evidence which the meanest capacity 
will understand, and which will most effectually and totally 
efface every prejudice against me. Let it arrive when it 
will, whether I shall have received an absolute and unquali- 
fied, acquittal, or a condemnation ; whether I am alive or 
dead", it will answer the end for which I want it. I am ever, 
my dear Shore, your most affectionate friend. 

{Memoirs of the Life of the Right Hon. IVarren Hastings, by Rev. G. R. Gleis, 
Lond., 1841, III, p. 321.) 



562 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

231. Cession of India to the English Crown 

(1858) 

In 1858 the old East India Company formally resigned its 
interests in India, and the land became entirely subject to the 
crown of England. There were many reasons for this step ; the 
old government had not proved entirely faithful to the trusts 
reposed in it, and there was need for a more stable form of rule. 
The proclamation made by the Queen sets forth the policy 
adopted by England in assuming control. It must be remem- 
bered that at the time of the transfer the India Mutiny was in 
progress; hence the clauses as to the enforcement of justice and 
the granting of clemency. It is probable that to this fact was 
also due the tenderness displayed for the religious feelings of 
the natives. 

PROCLAMATION BY THE QUEEN IN COUNCIL TO THE PRINCES^ 
CHIEFS, AND PEOPLE OF INDIA 

Victoria, by the grace of God of the United Kingdom of 
Great Britain and Ireland, and of the Colonies and Depen- 
dencies thereof in Europe, Asia, Africa, America, and Aus- 
tralia, Queen, Defender of the Faith. 

Whereas, for divers v^eighty reasons, we have resolved, by 
and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and 
Temporal, and Commons, in Parliament assembled, to take 
upon ourselves the government of the territories in India 
heretofore administered in trust for us by the Honourable 
East India Company, 

Now, therefore, we do by these presents notify and declare 
that, by the advice and consent aforesaid, we have taken upon 
ourselves the said government; and we hereby call upon all 
our subjects within the said territories to be faithful, and to 
bear true allegiance to us, our heirs and successors, and to 
submit themselves to the authority of those w^honi w^e may 
hereafter, from time to time, see fit to appoint to administer 
the government of our said territories, in our name and on 
our behalf. 

And we, reposing especial trust and confidence in the 
loyalty, ability, and judgment of our right trusty and well- 
beloved cousin and counsellor, Charles John, Viscount 
Canning, do hereby constitute and appoint him, the said Vis- 
count Canning, to be our first Viceroy and Governor-General 
in and over our said territories, and to administer the govern- 
ment thereof in our name, and generally to act in our name 
and on our behalf, subject to such orders and regulations as 
he shall, from time to time, receive from us through one of 
our Principal Secretaries of State. 



THE INDIAN EMPIRE 563 

And we do hereby confirm in their several offices, civil 
and military, all persons now employed in the service of the 
Honourable East India Company, subject to our future 
pleasure, and to such laws and regulations as may hereafter 
be enacted. 

We hereby announce to the native princes of India that 
all treaties and engagements made with them by or under the 
authority of the Honourable East India Company are by us 
accepted, and will be scrupulously maintained, and we look 
for the like observance on their part. 

We desire no extension of our present territorial posses- 
sions ; and, while we will permit no aggression upon our do- 
minions or our rights to be attempted with impunity, we 
shall sanction no encroachment on those of others. We shall 
respect the rights, dignity, and honour of native princes as 
our own : and we desire that they, as well as our own sub- 
jects, should enjoy that prosperity and that social advance- 
ment which can only be secured by internal peace and good 
government. 

We hold ourselves bound to the natives of our Indian ter- 
ritories by the same obligations of duty which bind us to all 
our other subjects, and those obligations, by the blessing of 
Almighty God, we shall faithfully and conscientiously fulfil. 

Firmly relying ourselves on the truth of Christianity, and 
acknowledging with gratitude the solace of religion, we dis- 
claim alike the right and desire to impose our convictions 
on any of our subjects. We declare it to be our royal will and 
pleasure that none be in anywise favoured, none molested or 
disquieted, by reason of their religious faith or observances, 
but that all shall alike enjoy the equal and impartial protec- 
tion of the law ; and we do strictly charge and enjoin all 
those w^ho may be in authority under us that they abstain 
from all interference with the religious belief or worship of 
any of our subjects on pain of our highest displeasure. 

And it is our further will that, so far as may be, our sub- 
jects, of whatever race or creed, be freely and impartially 
admitted to offices in our service, the duties of which they 
may be qualified, by their education, ability, and integrity, 
duly to discharge. 

We know, and respect, the feelings of attachment with 
which the natives of India regard the lands inherited by them 
from their ancestors, and we desire to protect them in all 
rights connected therewith, subject to the equitable demands 
of the State; and we will that, generally, in framing and ad- 



564 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

ministering the law, due regard be paid to the ancient rights, 
usages, and customs of India. 

We deeply lament the evils and misery which have been 
brought upon India by the acts of ambitious men, vv^ho have 
deceived their countrymen by false reports, and led them into 
open rebellion. Our power has been shown by the suppres- 
sion of that rebellion in the field : we desire to show our 
mercy by pardoning the offences of those who have been thus 
misled, but who desire to return to the path of duty. 

Already, in one province, with a view to stop the further 
effusion of blood, and to hasten the pacification of our In- 
dian dominions, our Viceroy and Governor-General has held 
out the expectation of pardon, on certain terms, to the great 
majority of those who, in the late unhappy disturbances, have 
been guilty of offences against our Government, and has de- 
clared the punishment which will be inflicted on those whose 
crimes place beyond the reach of forgiveness. We approve 
and confirm the said act of our Viceroy and Governor- 
General, and do further announce and proclaim as follows : 

Our clemency will be extended to all offenders, save and 
except those who have been, or shall be, convicted of having 
directly taken part in the murder of British subjects. With 
regard to such the demands of justice forbid the exercise of 
mercy. 

To those who have willingly given asylum to murderers, 
knowing them to be such, or who may have acted as leaders 
or instigators in revolt, their lives alone can be guaranteed; 
but, in apportioning the penalty due to, such persons, full 
consideration will be given to the circumstances under which 
they have been induced to throw off their allegiance; and 
large indulgence will be shown to those whose crimes may ap- 
pear to have originated in the credulous acceptance of the 
false reports circulated by designing men. 

To all others in arms against the government we hereby 
promise unconditional pardon, amnesty, and oblivion of all 
offence against ourselves, our crown, and dignity, on their 
return to their homes and peaceful pursuits. 

It is our royal pleasure, that these terms of grace and 
amnesty should be extended to all those who comply with 
these conditions before the ist day of January next. 

When, by the blessing of Providence, internal tranquillity 
shall be restored, it is our earnest desire to stimulate the 
peaceful industry of India, to promote works of public utility 
and improvement, and to administer its government for the 



THE INDIAN EMPIRE 565 

benefit of all our subjects resident therein. In their pros- 
perity will be our strength, in their contentment our security, 
and in their gratitude our best reward. And may the God 
of all power grant to us, and to those in authority under us, 
strength to carry out these our wishes for the good of our 
people. 

(^History of India, E. H. Nolan, Lond., n. d., Ill, p. i.) 

232. Victoria, Empress of India 

(1877) 

Wheeler 

In 1876 Victoria issued a formal proclamation, in which she 
assumed the dignity and title of Empress of India. This pro- 
clamation recited that on January i, 1877, the said title and dig- 
nity were to vest in the royal house of England. The date 
named was made a day of festivity in India. The royal procla- 
mation was read at Delhi with impressive ceremonies. The ac- 
count of these ceremonies, which also contains the text of the 
royal proclamation, is given. 

The first of January eighteen hundred and seventy-seven 
was the great day of the Imperial Assemblage. Her Majesty 
the Queen of England was proclaimed Empress of India. 
The Governors and other High Officials of British India 
were assembled together with all the Ruling Native Chiefs 
to inaugurate the installation of the Empress as the Sover- 
eign of Her Eastern Empire. . . . 

The scene of the Proclamation was a turf-covered plain 
about four miles from Delhi. Three structures had been set 
up, namely, a Throne Pavilion for the Viceroy, an Amphi- 
theatre for the High Officials and Ruling Chiefs, and blocks 
for Representatives of Foreign Governments and. spectators. 

The Throne Pavilion was a graceful building of blue, red, 
and gold, near the centre of the acre. It was a hexagon ; 
each of its sides were forty feet long ; the whole was thus 
about two hundred and twenty-four feet round. The details 
are worth describing. The lower part was a solid structure 
of masonry ten feet from the ground. It was surrounded 
by a gilded railing. There was a flight of steps in front and 
another behind, also with gilded railings. The upper part 
was a canopy raised over the structure, supported on twelve 
slender clustered shafts. The Imperial Crown at the top 
rested upon a cushion. Beneath it depended a graceful 
drapery of red clothes embroidered with gold. On the upper 
cornice was worked a pattern of festooned laurel wreaths 
and Imperial Crowns. At each angle was a trophy of three 



565 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

satin bannerets, festooned outwards, displaying the Cross of 
St. George and the Union Jack. Below the cornice the ca- 
nopy was continued in alternate stripes of red and white 
satin, embroidered with golden fleurs de lis. There was a 
lower frieze with an armorial vallance hanging from it. The 
frieze displaced the Rose, Shamrock, and Thistle, embroid- 
ered with the Lotos of India in gold, silver, and colours. It 
was adorned at each angle by a gilded crown and silken 
drapery. The vallance was composed of shield-shaped forms, 
on which were shown alternately the Irish Harp, the Lion 
Rampant of Scotland, and the three Lions of England. The 
shafts of the canopy were hung with silver shields, about ten 
feet from the ground, bearing the imperial monogram in 
gold, surmounted by bannerets of various-coloured satins. . . . 

From an early hour there had been a general gathering 
towards the Imperial Assemblage. Ruling Chiefs drove by 
in state carriages accompanied by retainers and soldiers. 
Groups of elephants crowded to the same spot clad in the 
trappings they had worn on the day of the entry. Vast 
multitudes also assembled to see the various Chiefs and High 
Officials pass by on their way to the place of Proclamation. 
The spectators' seats on either side of the Throne Pavilion 
were occupied by Ambassadors, Envoys, and Deputations, 
including those from Nipal and Siam; also by Foreign Con- 
suls, and a large number of European ladies and gentlemen. 
Here also were seated- the Khan of Khelat, the Governor- 
General of the Portuguese Settlements in India, and numer- 
ous Native nobles and officials. The general public were 
also admitted in great numbers to the inclosure, behind the 
Amphitheatre. 

All the British troops assembled at Delhi were drawn up 
on a plain, to the north of the pavilions ; the Native chiefs 
and nobles had in like manner drawn up their retainers and 
followers on the opposite plain to the south of the pavilions. 

Guards of honour were drawn up on either side of the 
Throne Pavilion, as well as at each of the several entrances 
to the Amphitheatre. 

At noon a flourish of trumpets from the Heralds an- 
nounced the arrival of His Excellency the Viceroy. All who 
were present in that vast assembly rose from their seats; 
the military bands played a grand march. His Excellency, 
who was accompanied by Lady Lytton and the members of 
his family, alighted from his carriage and advanced towards 
the Throne Pavilion preceded by the Personal Staff. The 



THE INDIAN EMPIRE 567 

bands struck up the National Anthem, and the guards of 
honour presented arms as the Viceroy took his seat upon the 
throne. 

The proceedings were simple and impressive. His Ex- 
cellency was arrayed in his robes as Grand Master of the 
Star of India. He commanded the Chief Herald to read the 
Proclamation of the assumption of the Imperial Title by 
Her Majesty the Queen. The twelve Heralds sounded a 
flourish of trumpets. The Chief Herald then read the Pro- 
clamation in a loud voice, which was heard by the whole 
Assemblage, 

"Victoria, R. 

"Whereas an Act has been passed in the present Sessions 
of Parliament, intituled 'An Act to enable Her Most Gra- 
cious Majesty to make an addition to the Royal Style and 
Titles appertaining to the Imperial Crown of the United 
Kingdom and its Dependencies,' which Act recites that, by 
the Act for the Union of Great Britain and Ireland, it was 
provided that after such Union the Royal Style and Titles 
appertaining to the Imperial Crown of the United Kingdom 
and its Dependencies should be such as His Majesty by His 
Royal Proclamation under the Great Seal of the United 
Kingdom should be pleased to appoint : and which Act also 
recites that, by virtue of the said Act, and of a Royal Pro- 
clamation under the Great Seal, dated the ist day of Jan- 
uary 1 80 1, Our present Style and Titles are 'Victoria, by 
the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain 
and Ireland Queen, Defender of the Faith' : and which Act 
also recites that, by the Act for the better government of 
India, it was enacted that the Government of India, thereto- 
fore vested in the East India Company in trust for Us, should 
become vested in Us, and that India should thenceforth be 
governed by Us and in Our name, and that it is expedient 
that there should be a recognition of the transfer of govern- 
ment so made by means of an addition to be made to Our 
Style and Titles : and which Act, after the said recitals, en- 
acts that it shall be lawful for Us, with a view to such re- 
cognition as aforesaid, of the transfer of the Government 
of India, by Our Proclamation under the Great Seal of the 
United Kingdom to make such addition to the Style and 
Titles at present appertaining to the Imperial Crown of the 
United Kingdom and its Dependencies as to Us may seem 
meet; we have thought fit, by and with the advice of Our 



568 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

Privy Council, to appoint and declare, and We do hereby, 
by and with the said advice, appoint and declare that hence- 
forth, so far as conveniently may be, on all occasions and in 
all instruments wherein Our Style and Titles are used, save 
and except all Charters, Commissions, Letters Patent, Grants, 
Writs, Appointments, and other like instruments, not ex- 
tending in their operation beyond the United Kingdom, the 
following addition shall be made to the Style and Titles at 
present appertaining to the Imperial Crown of the United 
Kingdom and its Dependencies; that is to say, in the Latin 
tongue in these words: Tndi^ Imperatrix/ And in the 
English tongue in these words: 'Empress of India.' 

"And Our will and pleasure further is, that the said ad- 
dition shall not be made in the Commissions, Charters, Let- 
ters Patent, Grants, Writs, Appointments, and other like 
instruments, hereinbefore specially excepted. 

"And Our will and pleasure further is, that all gold, silver, 
and copper moneys, now current and lawful moneys of the 
United Kingdom, and all gold, silver, and copper moneys 
which shall on or after this day be coined by Our authority 
with the like impression, shall, notwithstanding such addi- 
tion to Our Style and Titles, be deemed and taken to be 
current and lawful moneys of the said United Kingdom; and 
further, that all moneys coined for and issued in any of the 
Dependencies of the said United Kingdom, and declared by 
Our Proclamation to be current and lawful money of such 
Dependencies respectively bearing Our Style, or Titles, or 
any part or parts thereof, and all moneys which shall here- 
after be coined and issued according to such Proclamation, 
shall, notwithstanding such addition, continue to be lawful 
and current money of such Dependencies respectively, until 
Our pleasure shall be further declared thereupon. ■ 

"Given at Our Court at Windsor the twenty-eighth day |' 
of April One thousand eight hundred and seventy-six in the 
thirty-ninth year of Our Reign. 

"god save the queen."" 

(JJistory of the IniJ>erial Assemblage at Delhi, J. T. Wheeler, Lond., n. d., p. 70.) 



CHAPTER XXXV 

ENGLAND AND THE TRANSVAAL 
233. The Sand River Convention 

Front the Records 

The far-reaching consequences which threatened to result from 
the war between England and the Transvaal Republic, the ques- 
tions in diplomacy and international law which have been raised, 
seem to justify a departure from the principles hitherto followed 
in the making of this book. I have therefore given the complete 
texts of the three important conventions by which the contesting 
nations sought to justify their respective positions. The first of 
these treaties, is entitled The Sand River Convention, and was 
made in 1852. 

Minute of a meeting held on the farm of Mr. P. A. Venter, 
Sand River, on Friday, the i6th day of January, 1852, be- 
tween her Majesty's Commissioners, Major W. S. Hogge 
and C. M. Owen, appointed to settle the affairs of the east 
and north-east boundaries of the Cape Colony, on the one 
part; and the following deputies of the emigrant Boers, 
living north of Vaal River, on the other hand : A. W. J. 
Pretorius, Comdt.-General ; H. S. Lombard, Landdrost ; H. 
F, Joubert, Comdt.-General; G. F. Krieger, Commandant, 
and twelve others. 

I. The Assistant Commissioners guarantee in the fullest 
manner, on the part of the British Government, to the emi- 
grant farmers beyond the Vaal River, the right to manage 
their own affairs, and to govern themselves according to 
their own laws, without any interference on the part of the 
British Government; and that no encroachment shall be 
made by the said Government on the territory beyond, to the 
north of the Vaal River, with the further assurance that the 
warmest wish of the British Government is to promote peace, 
free trade, and friendly intercourse with the emigrant far- 
mers now inhabiting, or who may inhabit, that country; it 
being understood that this system of non-interference is 
binding upon both parties. 

569 



570 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

2. Should any misunderstanding hereafter arise as to the 
true meaning of the words, "The Vaal River," this question, 
in so far as it regards the line from the source of that river, 
over to Drakensberg, shall be settled and adjusted by Com- 
missioners chosen by both parties. 

3. Her Majesty's Assistant Commissioners hereby dis- 
claim all alliances whatever and with whomsoever of the 
coloured nations to the north of the Vaal River. 

4. It is agreed that no slavery is or shall be permitted or 
practised in the country to the north of the Vaal River by 
the emigrant farmers. 

5. Mutual facilities and liberty shall be afforded to traders 
and travellers on both sides of the Vaal River; it being 
understood that every waggon containing firearms, coming 
from the south side of the Vaal River, shall produce a cer- 
tificate signed by a British magistrate, or other functionary, 
duly authorized to grant such, and which shall state the 
quantities of such articles contained in said waggon to the 
nearest magistrate north of the Vaal River, who shall act 
in the case as the regulations of the emigrant farmers 
direct. It is agreed that no objections shall be made by 
any British authority against the emigrant Boers purchasing 
their supplies of ammunition in any of the British Colonies 
and possesions of South Africa; it being mutually under- 
stood that all trade in ammunition with the native tribes 
is prohibited, both by the British Government and the emi- 
grant farmers on both sides of the Vaal River. 

6. It is agreed that, so far as possible, all criminals and 
other guilty parties who may fly from justice either way 
across the Vaal River shall be mutually delivered up, if 
such should be required; and that the British courts, as well 
as those of the emigrant farmers, shall be mutually opened 
to each other for all legitimate processes, and that sum- 
monses for witnesses sent either way across the Vaal River 
shall be backed by the magistrates on each side of the same 
respectively, to compel the attendance of such witnesses 
when required. 

7. It is agreed that certificates of marriage issued by the 
proper authorities of the emigrant farmers shall be held 
valid and sufficient to entitle children of such marriages to 
receive portions accruing to them in any British colony or 
possession in South Africa. 

8. It is agreed that any and €very person now in posses- 
sion of land, and residing in British territory, shall have free 



ENGLAND AND THE TRANSVAAL 571 

right and power to sell his said property, and remove unmo- 
lested across the Vaal River and vice versa; it being distinct- 
ly understood that this arrangement does not comprehend 
criminals or debtors without providing for the payment of 
their just and lawful debts. 

(From a copy of the original document.) 

234. The Convention of Pretoria 

From the Records 

The second treaty between the Transvaal and England was 
that made at Pretoria in 1881. While the suzerainty of the 
Queen of England is specifically acknowledged in the Preamble, 
the rights of England in the Transvaal are definitely limited. 
Although much of the convention is of minor interest, it has 
been thought best to give the vv^hole document. 

Preamble. Her Majesty's Commissioners for the settle- 
ment of the Transvaal territory, duly appointed as such by 
a commission passed under the Royal Sign Manual and 
Signet, bearing date the 5th of April, 1881, do hereby under- 
take and guarantee on behalf of her Majesty that, from and 
after the 8th day of August, 1881, complete self-government, 
subject to the suzerainty of her Majesty, her heirs and suc- 
cessors, will be accorded to the inhabitants of the Transvaal 
territory, upon the following terms and conditions, and sub- 
ject to the following reservations and limitations : — 

Article i. The said territory, to be hereinafter called the 
Transvaal State, will embrace the land lying between the 
following boundaries, to wit: [here follows definition of 
boundaries.] 

Article 2. Her Majesty reserves to herself, her heirs 
and successors (a) the right from time to time to appoint a 
British Resident in and for the said state, with such duties 
and functions as are hereinafter defined; (6) the right to 
move troops through the said state in time of war, or in case 
of the apprehension of immediate war between the suzerain 
power and any foreign state or native tribe in South Africa; 
and (c) the control of the external relations of the said 
state, including the conclusion of treaties and the conduct 
of diplomatic intercourse with foreign powers, such inter- 
course to be carried on through her Majesty's diplomatic and 
consular officers abroad. 

Article 3. Until altered by the Volksraad, or other com- 
petent authority, all laws, whether passed before or after 
the annexation of the Transvaal territory to her Majesty's 



572 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

dominions, shall, except in so far as they are inconsistent 
with or repugnant to the provisions of this Convention, be 
and remain in force in the said state in so far as they shall 
be applicable thereto, provided that no future enactment 
especially affecting the interest of natives shall have any 
force or effect in the said state, without the consent of her 
Majesty, her heirs and successors, first had and obtained and 
signified to the government of the said state through the 
British Resident; provided further that in no case will the 
repeal or amendment of any laws enacted since the an- 
nexation have a retrospective effect, so as to invalidate any 
acts done or liabilities incurred by virtue of such laws. 

Article 4. On the 8th day of August, 1881, the govern- 
ment of the said state, together with all rights and obliga- 
tions thereto appertaining, and all state property taken over 
at the time of annexation, save and except munitions of war, 
will be handed over to Messrs. Stephanus Johannes Paulus 
Kruger, Martinus Wessel Pretorius, and Petrus Jacobus 
Joubert, or the survivor or survivors of them, who will forth- 
with cause a Volksraad to be elected and convened, and the 
Volksraad, thus elected and convened, will decide as to the 
further administration of the government of the said state. 

Article 5. All sentences passed upon persons who may be 
convicted of offences contrary to the rules of civilized war- 
fare committed during the recent hostilities will be duly 
carried out, and no alteration or mitigation of such senten- 
ces will be made or allowed by the Government of the Trans- 
vaal State without her Majesty's consent conveyed through 
the British Resident. In case there shall be any prisoners 
in any of the gaols of the Transvaal State whose respective 
sentences of imprisonment have been remitted in part by her 
Majesty's Administrator or other officer administering the 
Government, such remission will be recognised and acted 
upon by the future government of the said state. 

Article 6. Her Majesty's Government will make due com- 
pensation for all losses and damage sustained by reason of 
such acts as are in the 8th Article hereinafter specified, 
which may have been committed by her Majesty's forces 
during the recent hostilities, except for such losses or damage 
as may already have been compensated for, and the Govern- 
ment of the Transvaal State will make due compensation forj 
all losses or damage sustained by reason of such acts as are 
in the 8th Article hereinafter specified which may have! 
been committed by the people who were in arms against herj 



ENGLAND AND THE TRANSVAAL 573 

Majesty during the recent hostilities, except for such losses 
or damage as may already have been compensated for. 

Article 7. The decision of all claims for compensation, 
as in the last preceding Article mentioned, will be referred 
to a sub-commission, consisting of the Hon. George Hudson, 
the Hon. Jacobus Petrus de Wet, and the Hon. John Gilbert 
Kotze. In case one or more of such sub-commissioners shall 
be unable or unwilling to act, the remaining sub-commissioner 
or sub-commissioners will, after consultation with the Gov- 
ernment of the Transvaal State, submit for the approval of 
her Majesty's High Commissioners the names of one or more 
persons to be appointed by them to fill the place or places 
thus vacated. The decision of the said sub-commissioners, 
or of a majority of them, will be final. The said sub-com- 
missioners will enter upon and perform their duties with all 
convenient speed. They will, before taking evidence or 
ordering evidence to be taken in respect of any claim, decide 
whether such claim can be entertained at all under the rules 
laid down in the next succeeding Article. In regard to claims 
which can be so entertained, the sub-commissioners will, in 
the first instance, afford every facility for an amicable ar- 
rangement as to the amount payable in respect of any claim, 
and only in cases in which there is no reasonable ground for 
believing that an immediate amicable arrangement can be ar- 
rived at will they take evidence or order evidence to be 
taken. For the purpose of taking evidence and reporting 
thereon, the sub-commissioners may appoint deputies, who 
will, without delay, submit records of the evidence and their 
reports to the sub-commissioners. The sub-commissioners 
will arrange their sittings and the sittings of their deputies 
in such a manner as to afford the earliest convenience to 
the parties concerned and their witnesses. In no case will 
costs be allowed to either side, other than the actual and 
reasonable expenses of witnesses whose evidence is certified 
by the sub-commissioners to have been necessary. Interest 
will not run on the amount of any claim, except as is herein- 
after provided for. The said sub-commissioners will forth- 
with, after deciding upon any claim, announce their decision 
to the Government against which the award is made and to 
the claimant. The amount of remuneration payable to the 
sub-commissioners and their deputies will be determined by 
the High Commissioners. After all the claims have been de- 
cided upon, the British Government and the Government of 
the Transvaal State will pay proportionate shares of the said 



574 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

remuneration and of the expenses of the sub-commissioners 
and their deputies, according to the amount awarded against 
them respectively. 

Article 8. For the purpose of distinguishing claims to be 
accepted from those to be rejected, the sub-commissioners 
will be guided by the following rules, viz. : — Compensation 
will be allowed for losses or damage sustained by reason of 
the following acts committed during the recent hostilities, 
viz., (a) commandeering, seizure, confiscation, or destruction 
of property, or damage done to property; (b) violence done 
or threats used by persons in arms. In regard to acts under 
(a), compensation will be allowed for direct losses only. 
In regard to acts falling under (b), compensation will be 
allowed for actual losses of property, or actual injury to 
the same proved to have been caused by its enforced abandon- 
ment. No claims for indirect losses, except such as are in 
this Article specially provided for, will be entertained. No 
claims which have been handed in to the Secretary of the 
Royal Commission after the first day of July, 1881, will be 
entertained, unless the sub-commissioners shall be satisfied 
that the delay was reasonable. When claims for loss of 
property are considered, the sub-commissioners will require 
distinct proof of the existence of the property, and that it 
neither has reverted nor will revert to the claimant. 

Article 9. The Government of the Transvaal State will 
pay and satisfy the amount of every claim awarded against 
it within one month after the sub-commissioners shall have 
notified their decision to the said Government, and in default 
of such payment the said Government will pay interest at the 
rate of six per cent, per annum from the date of such default; 
but her Majesty's Government may at any time before such 
payment pay the amount, with interest, if any, to the claim- 
ant in satisfaction of his claim, and may add the sum thus 
paid to any debt which may be due by the Transvaal State 
to her Majesty's Government, as hereinafter provided for. 

Article 10. The Transvaal State will be liable for the 
balance of the debts for which the South African Republic 
was liable at the date of annexation, to wit, the sum of 
48,000 I. in respect to the Cape Commercial Bank Loan, 
and 85,667 I. in respect to the Railway Loan, together with 
the amount due on the 8th of August, 1881, on account of the 
Orphan Chamber Debt, which now stands at 22,200 l, which 
debts will be a first charge upon the revenues of the State. 
The Transvaal State will, moreover, be liable for the lawful 



ENGLAND AND THE TRANSVAAL 575 

expenditure lawfully incurred for the necessary expenses of 
the province since the annexation, to wit, the sum of 
265,000 I., with debt, together with such debts as may be 
incurred by virtue of the 9th Article, will be second charge 
upon the revenues of the State. 

Article 11. The debts due as aforesaid by the Transvaal 
State to her Majesty's Government will bear interest at the 
rate of three and a half per cent., and any portion of such 
debt as may remain unpaid at the expiration of twelve 
months from the 8th of August, 1881, shall be repayable by 
a payment for interest and sinking fund of six pounds and 
ninepence per cent, per annum, which will extinguish the 
debt in twenty-five years. The said payment of six pounds 
and ninepence per 100 /. shall be payable half-yearly in 
British currency on the 8th of February and the 8th of 
August in each year. Provided always, that the Transvaal 
State shall pay in reduction of the said debt the sum of 
ioo,oco /. within twelve months of the 8th of August, 1881, 
and shall be at liberty at the close of any half-year to pay off 
the whole or any portion of the outstanding debt. 

Article 12. All persons holding property in the said State 
on the 8th day of August, 1881, will continue after the said 
date to enjoy the rights of property which they have enjoyed 
since the annexation. No person who has remained loyal 
to her Majesty during the recent hostilities shall suffer any 
molestation by reason of his loyalty, or be liable to any 
criminal prosecution or civil action for any part taken in 
connection with such hostilities, and all such persons will 
have full liberty to reside in the country, with enjoyment of 
all civil rights, and protection for their persons and prop- 
erty. 

Article 13. Natives will be allowed to acquire land, but 
the grant or transfer of such land will, in every case, be 
made to and registered in the name of the Native Location 
Commission, hereinafter mentioned, in trust for such natives. 

Article 14. Natives will be allowed to move as freely 
within the country as may be consistent with the require- 
ments of public order, and to leave it for the purpose of 
seeking employment elsewhere or for other lawful purposes, 
subject always to the past laws of the said State, as amended 
by the Legislature of the Province, or as may hereafter be 
enacted under the provisions of the Third Article of this Con- 
vention. 

Article 15. There will continue to be complete freedom 



576 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

of religion and protection from molestation for all denomina- 
tions, provided the same be not inconsistent with morality 
and good order, and no disability shall attach to any person 
in regard to rights of property by reason of the religious 
opinions which he holds. 

Article i6. The provisions of the Fourth Article of the 
Sand River Convention are hereby reaffirmed, and no slavery 
or apprenticeships partaking of slavery will be tolerated by 
the Government of the said State. 

Article 17. The British Resident will receive from the 
Government of the Transvaal State such assistance and sup- 
port as can by law be given to him for the due discharge 
of his function ; he will also receive every assistance for the 
proper care and preservation of the graves of such of her 
Majesty's forces as have died in the Transvaal, and if need 
be for the expropriation of land for the purpose. 

Article 18. The following will be the duties and func- 
tions of the British Resident : — 

Sub-section i. He will perform duties and functions an- 
alogous to those discharged by a Charge-d'Affaires and 
Consul-General. 

Sub-section 2. In regard to natives within the Transvaal 
State he will (a) report to the High Commissioner, as rep- 
resentative of the Suzerain, as to the working and observ- 
ance of the provisions of this Convention; (b) report to the 
Transvaal authorities any cases of ill-treatment of natives 
or attempts to incite natives to rebellion that may come to 
his knowledge; (c) use his influence with the natives in 
favour of law and order; and (d) generally preform such 
other duties as are by this Convention entrusted to him, and 
take such steps for the protection of the person and property 
of natives as are consistent with the laws of the land. 

Sub-section 3. In regard to natives not residing in the 
Transvaal (a) he will report to the High Commissioner and 
the Transvaal Government any encroachments reported to him 
as having been made by Transvaal residents upon the land 
of such natives, and in case of disagreement between the. 
Transvaal Government and the British Resident as to whether 
an encroachment has been made, the decision of the Suzerain 
will be final; (b) the British Resident will be the mediunL 
of communication with native chiefs outside the Transvaaljlj 
and, subject to the approval of the High Commissioner, as 
representing the Suzerain, he will control the conclusion o 
treaties with them; and (c) he will arbitrate upon every dis 



I 



ENGLAND AND THE TRANSVAAL $77 

piite between Transvaal residents and natives outside the 
Transvaal (as to acts committed beyond the boundaries of 
the Transvaal) which may be referred to him by the parties 
interested. 

Sub-section 4. In regard to communications with foreign 
powers, the Transvaal Government will correspond with her 
Majesty's Government through the British Resident and the 
High Commissioner. 

Article 19. The Government of the Transvaal State will 
strictly adhere to the boundaries defined in the First Article 
of this convention, and will do its utmost to prevent any of 
its inhabitants from making any encroachment upon lands 
beyond the said State. The Royal Commission will forth- 
with appoint a person who will beacon off the boundary- 
line between Ramatlabama and the point where such line 
first touches Griqua-land West boundary, midway between 
the Vaal and Hart rivers ; the person so appointed will be 
instructed to make an arrangement between the owners of 
the farms Grootfontein and Valleifontein on the one hand, 
and the Barolong authorities on the other, by which a fair 
share of the water supply of the said farms shall be allowed 
to flow undisturbed to the said Barolongs. 

Article 20. All grants or titles issued at any time by the 
Transvaal Government in respect of land outside the bound- 
ary of Transvaal State, as defined, Article i, shall be con- 
sidered invalid and of no effect, except in so far as any such 
grant or title relates to land that falls within the boundary of 
the Transvaal State, and all persons holding any such grant 
so considered invalid and of no effect will receive from the 
Government of the Transvaal State such compensation either 
in land or in money as the Volksraad shall determine. In all 
cases in which any native chiefs or other authorities outside 
the said boundaries have received any adequate consider- 
ation from the Government of the former South African 
Republic for land excluded from the Transvaal by the First 
Article of this Convention, or where permanent improve- 
ments have been made on the land, the British Resident will, 
subject to the approval of the High Commissioner, use his 
influence to recover from the native authorities fair com- 
pensation for the loss of the land thus excluded, and of the 
permanent improvement thereon. 

Article 21. Forthwith, after the taking effect of this 
Convention, a Native Location Commission will be con- 
stituted, consisting of the President, or in his absence the 



578 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

Vice-President of the State, or some one deputed by him, 
the President, or some one deputed by him, and a third 
person to be agreed upon by the President or the Vice- 
President, as the case may be, and the President, and such 
Commission will be a standing body for the performance of 
the duties hereinafter mentioned. 

Article 22. The Native Location Commission will reserve 
to the native tribes of the State such locations as they may be 
fairly and equitably entitled to, due regard being had to the 
actual occupation of such tribes. The Native Location Com- 
mission will clearly define the boundaries of such locations, 
and for that purpose will, in every instance, first of all as- 
certain the wishes of the parties interested in such land. In 
case land already granted in individual titles shall be required 
for the purpose of any location, the owners will receive such 
compensation either in other land or in money as the Volks- 
raad shall determine. After the boundaries of any location 
have been fixed, no fresh grant of land within such location 
will be made, nor will the boundaries be altered without the 
consent of the Location Commission. No fresh grants of 
land will be made in the districts of Waterberg, Zoutpans- 
berg, and Lydenberg until the locations in the said districts 
respectively shall have been defined by the said Commission. 

Article 2^. If not released before the taking effect of this 
Convention, Sikukuni, and those of his followers who have 
been imprisoned with him, will be forthwith released, and the 
boundaries of his location will be defined by the Native 
Location Commission in the manner indicated in the last 
preceding Article. 

Article 24. The independence of the Swazies within the 
boundary-line of Swazi-land, as indicated in the First Article 
of this Convention, will be fully recognized. 

Article 25. No other or higher duties will be imposed on 
the importation into the Transvaal State of any article the 
produce or manufacture of the dominions and possessions of 
her Majesty, from whatever place arriving, than are or may 
be payable on the like article the produce or manufacture 
of any other country, nor will any prohibition be maintained 
or imposed on the importation of any article the produce or 
manufacture of the dominions and possessions of her Ma- 
jesty, which shall not equally extend to the importation of 
the like articles being the produce or manufacture of any 
other country. 

Article 26. All persons other than natives conforming 



ENGLAND AND THE TRANSVAAL $79 

themselves to the laws of the Transvaal State (a) will have 
have full liberty with their families to enter, travel, or reside 
in any part of the Transvaal State; (b) they will be entitled 
to hire or possess houses, manufactures, warehouses, shops, 
and premises; (c) they may carry on their commerce either 
in person or by any agent whom they may think to employ; 
(d) they will not be subject in respect of their persons or 
property, or in respect of their commerce or industry to any 
taxes, whether general or local, other than those which are 
or may be imposed upon Transvaal citizens. 

Article 2y. All inhabitants of the Transvaal shall have 
free access to the Courts for the protection and defence of 
their rights. 

Article 28. All persons other than natives who established 
their domicile in the Transvaal between the 12th day of 
April, 1877, and the date when this Convention comes into 
effect, and who shall within twelve months after such last- 
mentioned date have their names registered by the British 
Resident, shall be exempt from all compulsory military serv- 
ice whatever. The Resident shall notify such registration 
to the Government of the Transvaal State. 

Article 29. Provision shall hereafter be made by a sep- 
arate instrument for the mutual extradition of criminals, and 
also for the surrender of deserters from her Majesty's forces. 

Article 30. All debts contracted since the annexation will 
be payable in the same currency in which they may have 
been contracted; all uncancelled postage and other revenue 
stamps issued by the Government since the annexation will 
remain valid, and will be accepted at their present value by 
the future Government of the State; all licenses duly issued 
since the annexation will remain in force during the period 
for which they may have been issued. 

Article 31. No grants of land which may have been made, 
and no transfer of mortgage which may have been passed 
since the annexation, will be invalidated by reason merely 
of their having been made or passed since that date. All 
transfers to the British Secretary for Native Affairs in trust 
for natives will remain in force, the Native Location Com- 
mission taking the place of such Secretary for Native Af- 
fairs. 

Article 32. This Convention will be ratified by a newly- 
elected Volksraad within the period of three months after its 
execution, and in default of such ratifications this Convene 
tion shall be null and void. 



58o SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

Article 33. Forthwith, after the ratification of this Con- 
vention, as in the last preceding Article mentioned, all British 
troops in Transvaal territory will leave the same, and the 
mutual delivery of munitions of war will be carried out. 

[Here follow signatures of Royal Commissioners; then 
the following precedes signatures of triumvirate.] 

We, the undersigned, Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger, 
Martinus Wessel Pretorius, and Petrus Jacobus Joubert, as 
representatives of the Transvaal Burghers, do hereby agree 
to all the above conditions, reservations, and limitations under 
which self-government has been restored to the inhabitants 
of the Transvaal territory, subject to the suzerainty of her 
Majesty, her heirs and successors, and we agree to accept the 
Government of the said territory, with all rights and obliga- 
tions thereto appertaining, on the 8th day of August; and we 
promise and undertake that this Convention shall be ratified 
by a newly-elected Volksraad of the Transvaal State within 
three months from this date. 

(From a copy of the original document.) 

235. The Convention of London 

From the Records 

The Convention of London must be read in conjunction with 
that of- Pretoria, as upon the variance of the two rests much 
of the ground of dispute between the two countries. The omis- 
sion of the clauses as to suzerainty was claimed by the Boers 
as extinguishing that claim, while England held that the London 
treaty was in that respect merely supplementary, and that the 
Convention of Pretoria was still in force, except where explicitly 
changed by that of London. 

A CONVENTION BETWEEN HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN OF THE 
UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND AND 
THE SOUTH AFRICAN REPUBLIC 

Preamble. 

Article i. The territory of the South African Republic 
will embrace the land lying between the following boundaries, 
to wit: 

\Here follows a description of the line of boundary.'] 

Article 2. The Government of the South African Republic 
will strictly adhere to the boundaries defined in the first 
Article of this Convention, and will do its utmost to preveni; 



II 



ENGLAND AND THE TRANSVAAL 581 

any of its inhabitants from making any encroachments upon 
lands beyond the said boundaries. The Government of the 
South African Republic will appoint Commissioners upon 
the eastern and western borders whose duty it will be strictly 
to guard against irregularities and all trespassing over the 
boundaries. Her Majesty's Government will, if necessary, 
appoint Commissioners in the native territories outside the 
eastern and western borders of the South African Republic 
to maintain order and prevent encroachments. 

Her Majesty's Government and the Government of the 
South African Republic will each appoint a person to proceed 
together to beacon off the amended south-west boundary as 
described in Article i of this Convention ; and the President 
of the Orange Free State shall be requested to appoint a 
referee to whom the said persons shall refer any question on 
which they may disagree respecting the interpretation of the 
said Article, and the decision of such referee thereon shall 
be final. The arrangement already made, under the terms 
of Article 19 of the Convention of Pretoria of the 3rd of 
August, 1 88 1, between the owners of the farms Grootfontein 
and Valleifontein on the one hand, and the Barolong author- 
ities on the other, by which a fair share of the water supply 
of the said farms shall be allowed to flow undisturbed to the 
said Barolongs, shall continue in force. 

Article 3. H a British officer is appointed to reside at 
Pretoria or elsewhere within the South African Republic to 
discharge functions analogous to those of a Consular officer 
he will receive the protection and assistance of the Republic. 

Article 4. The South African Republic will conclude no 
treaty or engagement with any State or nation other than the 
Orange Free State, nor with any native tribe to the eastward 
or westward of the Republic, until the same has been ap- 
proved by her Majesty the Queen. Such approval shall be 
considered to have been granted if her Majesty's Government 
shall not, within six months after receiving a copy of such 
treaty (which shall be delivered to them immediately upon 
its completion), have notified that the conclusion of such 
treaty is in conflict with the interests of Great Britain or 
any of her Majesty's possessions in South Africa. 

Article 5. The South African Republic will be liable for 
any balance which may still remain due of the debts for 
which it was liable at the date of annexation, to wit, the 
Cape Commercial Bank Loan, the Railway Loan, and the 
Orphan Chamber Debt, which debts will be a first charge 



S82 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

upon the revenues of the Republic. The South African 
Republic will moreover be liable to her Majesty's Govern- 
ment for 250,000 /., which will be a second charge upon the 
revenues of the Republic. 

Article 6. The debt due as aforesaid by the South African 
Republic to her Majesty's Government will bear interest at 
the rate. of three and a half per cent, from the date of the 
ratification of this Convention, and shall be repayable by a 
payment for interest and Sinking Fund of six pounds and 
ninepence per 100 L per annum, which will extinguish the 
debt in twenty-five years. The said payment of six pounds 
and ninepence per 100 I. shall be payable half-yearly, in 
British currency, at the close of each half-year from the 
date of such ratification : Provided always that the South 
African Republic shall be at liberty at the close of any half- 
year to pay off the whole or any portion of the outstanding 
debt. 

Interest at the rate of three and a half per cent, on the debt 
as standing on the Convention of Pretoria shall as heretofore 
be paid to the date of the ratification of this Convention. 

Article 7. All persons who held property in the Transvaal 
on the 8th day of August, 1881, and still hold the same, will 
continue to enjoy the rights of property which they have en- 
joyed since the 12th of April, 1877. No person who has 
remained loyal to her Majesty during the late hostilities shall 
suffer any molestation by reason of his loyalty ; or be liable 
to any criminal prosecution or civil action for any part taken 
in connection with such hostilities ; and all such persons will 
have full liberty to reside in the country, with enjoyment of 
all civil rights, and protection for their persons and property. 

Article 8. The South African Republic renews the dec- 
laration made in the Sand River Convention, and in the Con- 
vention of Pretoria, that no slavery or apprenticeship par- 
taking of slavery will be tolerated by the Government of the 
said Republic. 

Article 9. There will continue to be complete freedom of 
religion and protection from molestation for all denomina- 
tions, provided the same be not inconsistent with morality 
and good order; and no disability shall attach to any person 
in regard to rights of property by reason of the religious 
opinion which he holds. 

Article 10. The British officer appointed to reside in the 
South African Republic will receive every assistance from 
the Government of the said Republic in making due pro- 



ENGLAND AND THE TRANSVAAL 583 

vision for the proper care and preservation of the graves of 
such of her Majesty's forces as have died in the Transvaal; 
and if need be, for the appropriation of land for the purpose. 
Article 11. All grants or titles issued at any time by the 
Transvaal Government in respect of land outside the bound- 
ary of the South African Republic, as defined in Article i, 
shall be considered invalid and of no effect, except in so far 
as any such grant or title relates to land that falls within the 
boundary of the South African Republic ; and all persons 
holding any such grant so considered invalid and of no effect 
will receive from the Government of the South African 
Republic such compensation, either in land or in money, as 
the Volksraad shall determine. In all cases in which any 
native chiefs or other authorities outside the said boundaries 
have received any adequate consideration from the Govern- 
ment of the South African Republic for land excluded from 
the Transvaal by the first article of this Convention or where 
permanent improvements have been made on the land, the 
High Commissioner will recover from the native authorities 
fair compensation for the loss of the land thus excluded, or 
of the permanent improvements thereon. 

Article 12. The independence of the Swazis, within the 
boundary line of Swazi-land, as indicated in the first article 
of this Convention, will be fully recognized. 

Article 13. Except in pursuance of any treaty or engage- 
ment made as provided in Article 4 of this Convention, no 
other or higher duties shall be imposed on the importation 
into the South African Republic of any article coming from 
any part of her Majesty's dominions than are or may be im- 
posed on the like article coming from any other place or 
country; nor will any prohibition be maintained or imposed 
on the importation into the South African Republic of any 
article coming from any part of her Majesty's dominions 
which shall not equally extend to the like article coming from 
any other place or country. And in like manner the same 
treatment shall be given to any article coming to Great 
Britain from the South African Republic as to the like 
article coming from any other place or country. 

These provisions do not preclude the consideration of 
special arrangements as to import duties and commercial 
relations between the South African Republic and any of her 
Majesty's colonies or possessions. 

Article 14. All persons, other than natives, conforming 
themselves to the laws of the South African Republic (a) will 



584 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY 

have full liberty, with their families, to enter, travel, or reside 
in any part of the South African Republic; (h) they v^ill 
be entitled to hire or possess houses, manufactories, ware- 
houses, shops, and premises; (c) they may carry on their 
commerce either in person or by any agents whom they think 
fit to employ; {d) they will not be subject, in respect to their 
persons or property, or in respect to their commerce or in- 
dustry, to any taxes, whether general or local, other thg,n 
those which are or may be imposed upon citizens of the said 
Republic. 

Article 15. All persons, other than natives, who estab- 
lished their domicile in the Transvaal between the 12th day 
of April, 1877, and the 8th of August, 1881, and who within 
twelve months after such last-mentioned date have had their 
names registered by the British Resident, shall be exempt 
from all compulsory military service whatever. 

Article 16. Provision shall hereafter be made by a separate 
instrument for the mutual extradition of criminals, and also 
for the surrender of deserters from her Majesty's forces. 

Article 17. All debts contracted between the 12th of 
April, 1877, ^rid the 8th of August, 1881, will be payable in 
the same currency in which they may have been contracted. 

Article 18. No grants of land which may have been made, 
and no transfers or mortgages which may have been passed 
between the 12th of April, 1877, ^"^ the 8th of August, 1881, 
will be invalidated by reason merely of their having been 
made or passed between such dates. 

All transfers to the British Secretary for Native Affairs 
in trust for natives will remain in force, an officer of the 
South African Republic taking the place of such Secretary 
for Native Affairs. 

Article 19. The Government of the South African Repub- 
lic will engage faithfully to fulfil the assurance given, in 
accordance with the laws of the South African Republic, to 
the natives at the Pretoria Pitso by the Royal Commission in 
the presence of the triumvirate and with their assent; (i) as 
to the freedom of the natives to buy or otherwise acquire 
land under certain conditions; (2) as to the appointment of 
a commission to mark out native locations; (3) as to the 
access of the natives to the courts of law, and (4) as to their 
being allowed to move freely within the country, or to leave 
it for any legal purpose, under a pass system. 

Article 20. This Convention will be ratified by a Volks- 
raad of the South African Republic within the period of six 



ENGLAND AND THE TRANSVAAL 585 

months after its execution, and in default of such ratifica- 
tion this Convention shall be null and void. 

Signed in duplicate in London this 27th day of February, 
1884. 

(From a copy of the original document.) 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX 



The Source-material indicated in the Bibliography of Sources, 
pages 1-61, is there arranged under 239 heads. The limits of 
space prohibited a more minute classification in the body of the 
volume. The needs of the student have, however, been fully 
provided for in this Bibliographical Index, wherein the sources 
are divided into more than a thousand titles. 

In looking up references in the body of the book always con- 
sult the head and foot of the selection examined. Society names 
— IVodrow Society — are italicized when they represent publica- 
tions. 

2^= The references are to Sections, not to pages. 



Abbattim, Gesta, cxi. 
Abhotsford Club, xv. 
Acta Sanctorum, xvi. 
Acta Sanctorum Hibernice, 

xxxii. 
Acta Sanctorum Ordinis Sanc- 

ti Benedicti in Sceculorum 

Classes distributa, 1. 
Acton, John of, xxxiv — E. 
Acts and Monuments of the 

Church, cli ; 127; 128; 132. 
Acts and Ordinances. See 

Statutes. 
Adams, C. K., xiii ; 203; 204; 

205. 
Adam of Usk, cxxiii. 
Mlfric Society, xvii. 
Agricola, 2y, 18. 
Alcuin, Letters of, Ixxxv. 
Alfred, Lazvs of, 25. 
Allgemeines bibliographisches 

Lexikon, xiv. 
Allibone, S. A., vii. 
Allies, ^ On the Conduct of, 

ccxvi. 
Almon's Debates, xxv. 
Alphabetical List of Works, xi. 
Ambassades des Messieurs de 

Noailles en Angle terre, 

clxix. 



587 



Ambassador, The C§mpleat, 
clxi. 

Amiens, Guy of, xcii. 

American Catalogue, xi. 

American Historical Associa- 
tion, Section 2, p. 6. 

American Library Association, 
Section 2, p. 6. 

American Historical Maga- 
zine, xci — H — note. 

Amundesham, John, Annals 
of, cxxvi. (See St. Albans.) 

Analecta, Vetera, xxxv. 

Anatomy of Abuses in Eng- 
land in Shakespeare's Youth, 
clxxvii. 

Ancient Charters, Royal and 
Private, xci — A. 

Ancient Lazvs and Institutes, 
Ix ; xci — A ; chap. V. 

Andre, Bernard, cxli. 

Angelsachsen, Die Geset:;e dcr, 
xci — E ; Zu den Gesetsen 
der, xci — E. 

Anglice Notitia, cxcv ; 192. 

Anglia Rediviva, clxxxix. 

Anglia Sacra, xviii. 

Anglica, Hibernica, N ormanni- 
ca, Cambrica, a veteribus 
scripta . . ., xxv. 



588 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX 



Anglorum, De Respuhlica, 133. 
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Ixxxi; 

23 ; 37 ; 40 ; 47 ; 48. 

Anglo-Saxon Laws; of Al- 
fred, 25 ; 39 ; of Athelstan, 26 
et seq.; of Edgar, 31 et seq. 
See Ancient Laws and In- 
stitutes. 

Annales Monastici, cxii. 

Annales Rerum Gestarum Al- 
fredi Magni . . ., Ixxxii. 

Annales sex Re gum Anglice, 
ex. 

Annals, Camden, of James I, 
clxxx ; Cardwell, Document- 
ary, xxxiv — A ; Cambrian, 
Ixxii ; Hoveden, c. ; 64 ; 65 ; 
Stowe, cl. See Annales. 

Anne, History of Queen, 
ccxviii ; ccxix ; 193. 

Annual Annotated Bibliog- 
raphy, Section 2, p. 6. 

Annual Register, ccxxxii; 210; 
211; 212; 213; 214; 215; 216. 

Antiquaries, Society of, xix ; 
xcii. 

Antoninus, Itinerary of, Ixxvii. 

Arber, Edward, English Re- 
prints, cxlvi. 

Archceologica, xix. 

Aristotles de Mundo, 12. 

Ashworth, H., 223. 

Asser, Life of Alfred, Ixxxii; 

• 38. 

Assises, The Bloody, ccxi. 

Athelstan, see Anglo-Saxon 
Laws. 

Auckland, William, Lord, 
ccxxx. 

Autotype Facsimiles of the 
Ancient CJiarters in the Brit- 
ish Museum, xci — H. 

Australia, 228. 

Australia and the Gold Fields, 
227. 

Aveshury, Robert of, cxix. 

Babington, C, cxxxiv. 
Bale, John, iii. 
Baluze, S., Miscellanea, xx. 
Bancroft, Richard, 135, 
Bannatyne Club, xxi. 
Baron's Wars, Chronicle of, 
cix, 



Barton, G. B., 225-226. 

Basnage, J., xxvii. 

Baxter, Richard, ccviii. 

Bayeux Tapestry, Engraved 
Facsimile with notes, xcii. 

Bean, W. W., Iviii. 

Beati Flacci Albini seu Alcuini 
Epistolce, Ixxxvi. 

Becket, Materials for the His- 
tory of Archbishop, 58. 

Bede, Ixxvi; 20; 22; 24. 

Bedford, John, Fourth Duke 
of, ccxxvi. 

Bel, Jean le. Chronicle of, 
cxxviii. 

Bencdictus, Abbas Petrobur- 
gensis . . ., xcix. 

Bentley, S., xxxix. 

Bent, General Catalogue, xi. 

Bernard, Andre, cxli. 

Best Books. A Readers Guide, 
xiv. See Reader's Guide. 

Bibliographer's Manual of 
English Literature, x. 

Bibliography: of Sources, Part 
I, pp. 3-61, incl. How to form, 
pp. 3, 6; Correct type of, p. 
3 ; Uses of, p. 6; Catalogues 
of, pp. 6-9; Of English 
Guilds, xii ; of Municipal 
History, xii ; Parliamentary 
Representation, xii ; Histor- 
cal Literature, xiii ; Refer- 
ence Books in British Mu- 
seum, xiv ; Best Books, xiv ; 
Reader's Guide, ix; Manu- 
scripts relating to the His- 
tory of Great Britain, viii ; 
General Index to British and 
Foreign Literature, ix ; Man- 
ual of English Literature, x ; 
Books Published from 1835 
to 1863 '■> xi ; Early books, see 
note to xi ; Hand-list of Bib- 
liographies, xiv ; Manuel du 
Libraire (Brunet), xiv; All- 
gemeines bibliographisches 
Lexikofif xiv. 

Bibliotheca Britannico-Hiber- 
nica, vii. 

Bibliotheca Historiccs, Diodo- 
rus Siculus, 17. 

Bibliotheque Universelle, v. 

Biographies, clvi — note. 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX 



589 



Biography, Dictionary of Na- 
tional, vii. 
Bird, B. R. S., Ix. 
Blaneforde, Henrici de, Chro- 
nica et Edzvardi II. Vita, 

cxi. 
Blondel, Robert, cxxx. 
Bohn, H., X. 
BoJingbroke (Henry St. John), 

Works and Correspondence 

of, ccxvii. 
Bollando. J., xvi. 
Book, Doomsday, 49; Little 

Black of the Exchequer, 63 ; 

Of Rights, 86. 
Boston, John, i. 
Boyer, A., ccxviii. 
Bracton, H., cxv ; cxvi. 
Bradshaw, Society, xliv. 
Brief Historical Relation of 

State Affairs (Luttrell), 

cxviii. 
Brief Register, Kalendar and 

Survey of the several kinds 

and forms of Parliamentary 

IVrits, Iviii. 
Britannice, de Excidio, Ixxv. 
Britannicis, de Rebus, ii. 
Britannico-Hibernica, Biblio- 

theca, vii. 
British Catalogue, xi. 
British Museum, Books in 

Reading Room of, xiv ; 

Charters in, xci — H. 
British Orations, 202 ; 203 ; 

204 ; 205. 
British Record Society, xxiii. 
Brunet, J. C, xiv. 
Briinner, H., xliii. 
Buckingham and Chandos, 

Duke of, ccxxxix. 
Burke, Edmund, ccxxxvii. 
Burleigh Papers, clxvi. 
Burnet, Bishop, History of His 

Own Times, cxciii. 
History of the Reformation, 

114; 115; 125; 126. 

Cabala Sii'e Sacra Scrinia, c\xn. 

Ccesar, Ixxiii ; 14; 21. 

Calderwood, David, clviii. 

Calendars: of State Papers, 
xxiv ; clxxiv ; ccxxv ; of 
Principal Dignitaries of 



England and Wales and of 
the Chief Officers in the Uni- 
versity . . ., xl. See Sources 
arranged by Epochs. 

Caley, Bandinell and Ellis, 
xxxvi. 

Cambrensis, Giraldus, ciii. 

Cambrian: Archccological As- 
sociation, Ixx — a; Institute, 
Ixx — b; Metropolitan Insti- 
tute, Ixx — c; Annals, Ixxii. 

Camden, G., xxv; Annals, 
clxxx ; Society Publications, 
xxvi ; Catalogue of Publica- 
tions of the Camden Society, 
xxvi. 

Canisius, xxvii. 

Canute, Laws of, 41. See An- 
cient Laws and Institutes. 

Capgrave, John, liii ; cxxi. 

Cardwell, E., xxxiv — A — B; 
153-B. 

Carstares, William, ccxv. 

Carew, George, Lord (Let- 
ters to Sir Thomas Roe), 
clxxxiii. 

Carmen de Bello Hastingensi, 
xci. See Hastings. 

Cartularium Saxonicum, xci-c. 

Catalogues : of historians, p. 3 ; 
of sources, p. 5 ; of histor- 
ical literature, p. 6 et seq.; 
of manuscripts, viii ; of 
source-material before Tu- 
dor period, viii ; English, 
London, British, Learned 
Societies, Lowndes, Maun- 
sell's, of certain Books, Cla- 
veil's. Bent's General, Ameri- 
can, xi. 

Catalogus Scriptorum Eccle^ 
sice, John Boston, i. 

Catholic Forefathers, The 
Troubles of Our, clxxiii. 

Catholic historians, accounts 
of. See Pits, 14. 

Cave, William, v. 

Cavendish, Henry, cxxxiii. 

Caxton Society, xlvi. 

Cecil, Lord Burleigh, clxvi. . 

Celtic Society, xxix. 

Chamberlayne, Edw., cxcv. 

Cliandler and Timberland'i 
Debates, xxx, 



59° 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX 



Challoner, R., clxxi. 

Charles I., Memorials and Let- 
ters, clxxxv; Letters, cxc; 
Letters, cxcvi ; Guthry's 
Memoirs of, cciv. 

Charters, Ancient, xci — A. B. 
C F. G. H.; Historical, 53; 

56. 

Chartist Movement, History 
of, 221-222. 

Chetham Society, xxix. 

Chronicles : Northumberland, 
Ixxii; Anglo-Saxon, Ixxii ; 
23 ; 37 ', 40 ; Eathelward, 
Ixxii; Ixxxiii; Florence _ of 
Worcester, Ixxii ; xc ; Prince 
of Wales, Ixxii; Six Old 
English, Ixxv ; Melrose, 
xcvii ; Richard of Devises, 
cii ; Roger of Wendover, 
cvii ; William Rishanger, cix, 
cxi; Monasterii (St. Al- 
bans), cxi; Trokelowe- 
Blanefordc, cxi ; Walter 
Henningford, cxiii ; Lon- 
don, cxiv ; Polychronicon, 
cxx ; C ap grave' s,cyi.y.\; Adam 
of Usk, cxiii; Nczv {Con- 
cordance of Histories), 
cxxi ; Jean le Bel, cxxviii ; 
Froissart, cxxix ; Monstrc- 
let, cxxx ; Croyland, Con- 
tinuation of, cxxxiii ; Hall's 
cxlviii. Holinshed, cxlix ; 
Stow, cl ; Grey Friars, cliii ; 
of Queen Jane, clvii ; Ken- 
net, cxciv ; of Great Britain, 
etc., xxxi ; Hengest, xc. 

Chronicles and Memorials of 
Great Britain and Ireland 
during the Middle Ages, 
xxxi. 

Chronicon^thekveardi,\xxxm. 

Chronic on ex Chronicis ah 
Adventu Hengesti, etc., xc. 

Chronicon Ricardi Divisiensis 
de Rebus gestis Ricardi, Pri- 
mi. Regis Anglice, cii. 

Church Historians of England, 
xcvii. 

Church History, v ; Councils 
and Ecclesiastical Docu- 
ments, xxxiv ; xxxvi ; of 
Britain, 151. See Chronicles, 



Saints, Scriptores, Acta 
Sanctorum. 

Clavell, Robert, General Cata- 
logue of, xi. 

Clitherozv, Life of Margaret 
(see Catholic Forefathers), 
142. 

Cobbett, W., XXX ; 106; 107; 
108. 

Cobden and the Anti-Corn 
Lazv League, Recollections 
of Richard, 223. 

Codex Diplomaticus ^ri Sa- 
xonici, xci — B. 

Codex Juris Ecclesiastici An- 
glicani . . ., xxxiv — BB. 

Colganus, J., xxxii. 

Collectance Adamantcua, xxxiii. 

Collection of Acts and Ordi- 
nances of General Use (Sco- 
bell), clxxxvi. 

Collection of the Laws and 
Canons of the Church of 
England from its first Foun- 
dation to 1 519, xxxiv — D. 

Collection of Original Letters 
and Papers . . ., 1641-1666 . . . 
(Ormonde), clxvi. 

Collection of Records. See 
Burnet, Reformation. 

Collection of Scarce and Valu- 
able Tracts (Somers), 45 — 
clxiii ; cciii ; 105. 

Collections of Source Materi- 
al. Sec. 3, p. 9 et seq. 

Collection of State Papers 
(Cecil, Lord Burleigh), 
clxvi. 

Collection of State Tracts, 
Published on Occasion of 
the Late Revolution in 1688 
. . . , etc., ccxiv. 

Colonial State Papers, Calen- 
dars of, xxiv. 

Cominge, De, ccvii. 

Commelin, Ixiii — f. 

Commerce, History of Brit- 
ish, 224. 

Commerce, Treaties and Nego- 
tiations concerning, Ixviii — 
H. 

Commentaries on the Gallic 
War, Ixxiii; 14; 21. 

Commons, House of. Jour- 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX 



591 



nals, xlvii — a. See De- 
bates, Parliamentary Histo- 
ry, Proceedings, Cobbett, 
Hanzard, Lords, House. 

Compendious or Brief Exami- 
nation (Stafford), clxxviii. 

Compilatio dc Eventibus An- 
glice (Knighton), 94. 

Complete Collection of the 
Treaties and Conventions 
and Reciprocal Regulations 
. . ., etc., Ixviii — H. 

Constittitional Documents of 
the Puritan Revolution, cxci. 

Concilia, Decreta, Leges, Con- 
stituciones in re Ecclesiarum 
Orhis Britannici ah initio 
Chris tiancu ... [to 1530] , xxxiv 
— F. 

Concilia magnce Britannia: et 
Hibernice Acedunt constitu- 
tiones et alia, xxxiv. 

Contemporary History of Af- 
fairs in Ireland, cciii. 

Continuatio MattJicui, cix, 

Coote, Charles, 206-207. 

Corn Law. See Cobden. 

Cornwallis, Charles, First Mar- 
quis, ccxxxviii. 

Corpus Juris Gentium Recen- 
tissimi e Tabulariorum . . ., 
etc., Ixviii — c. 

Correspondence, xxxiv — H. 
L (Papal); xxxv ; cxvii ; 
cxxviii ; cxxxii ; cxliii ; clii ; 
cliv ; clxii ; clxvii ; clxviii ; 
clxix ; clxx ; clxxxiii ; cxc ; 
ccxii. See also Letters, Roy- 
al, Kings of England. Origi- 
nal (Hanoverian Period). 
D'Avaux, ccvi ; De Cominge, 
ccvii ; Shrewsbury, ccxii ; 
Carstares, ccxv ; Boling- 
broke. ccxvii ; William HL 
and Louis XIV.. ccxxxiv ; 
Bedford, ccxxvi ; Pitt, 
ccxxvii ; Grenville, ccxxvii ; 
Rose, ccxxix ; Auckland, 
ccxxx ; North, ccxxxv ; 
Malmsbury, ccxxxvi ; Corn- 
wallis, ccxxxviii. 

Councils and Ecclesiastical 
Documents, xxxiv. 

Council, Orders in, Ixviii — H. 



Court Life under the Plan- 

tagenets, 63. 
'Crisp, Stephen, and his Cor- 
respondence, cxcix. 

Cromwellian Diary, cxcii. 

Crook. W.. 175. 

Croyland Chronicle, Continua- 
tion of, cxxxiii. 

Dalrymple, Sir John. ccv. 

Dangerous Positions and Prac- 
tices . . ., 135. 

D'Archery, D. L., xxxv. 

Dasent, G. W., Ixxx. 

D'Avaux, Count, ccvi. 

Debates. See D'Ewes, Chan- 
dler and Timberland, Grey, 
Almon, Debrett, Parry, xxx ; 
Hanzard, Cobbett, Caven- 
dish ; Proceedings in Parlia- 
ment — Parliamentary His- 
tory. 

Debrett, J., xxx. 

D'Ewes' Journals of the Par- 
liaments of Queen Elizabeth, 
XXV ; clxiv ; 138; 139. 

De Rebus Britannicus, 11. 

De Scriptoribus Hibernia, vi. 

Descriptive Catalogue of . . . 
History of Great Britain and 
Ireland, viii. 

Devises, Richard of, cii. 

Dialogues of the Exchequer 
(Dialogus de Scaccario), cv. 

Diary : Evelyn, cxcvi ; Pepys, 
cxcvii ; Luttrell, cxcviii ; 
Burton, cxcii ; Goddard, 
cxcii ; Doddington. ccxxxiv ; 
Lady of Quality (Miss 
Wynn), 200. 

Diceto, Ralph of, ci. 

Dictionary of National Bi- 
ography, vii. 

Diggs, Sir Dudley, clxi. 

Diodorus Siculus. 17. 

Discourses, Historical, 
clxxxviii. 

Dispatches, The French, clxviu ; 
N^oailles, clxix. 

Documentary Annals of the 
Reformed Church of Eng- 
land (1546-1716), xxxiv. 

Documents inedits sur I'His- 
tpire de France, clxvii. 



592 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX 



Doddington, George, Bubb, 

ccxxxiv. 
Domestic Papers, Calendars 

of, xxiv. 
Doomsday Book, xci — D. ; 49; 

And Beyond, xci — ^D. 
Drapier Letters, ccxvi. 
Dryden, John, Works of, ccx. 
Duchesne, A., Ixiii — g. 
Dugdale, W., xxxvi. 
Dumont, J., Ixviii — A. 
Durand, O., Ixvii ; Ixix. 
Durham, County of, xxix; 

Simeon of, Ixxxvii. 
Dutch War, History of, ccxiv. 

Eadmer's History: Eadmeri 
Monachi Cantuariensis His- 
tori(B Novorum . . ., xciii ; 50 ; 

57- 
Earle, J., Ixxxi ; xci — F. 

Early English Text Society, 

xxxvii. 
East India and Persia, New 

Account of, 229. 
Eathelward, Chronicle of, Ixxii. 

See Ethelward, Ixxxiii. 
Ebert, F. A., xiv. 
Ecclesiastical Documents, xxiv. 
Ecclesiasticce Histories (Or- 

dericus Vitalis), xciv, 44; 

46; 54- 
Ecclesiastical History (Bede), 

Ixxii ; Ixxxvi ; 20 ; 22 ; 24. 
Ecclesiastical Polity, Laws of, 

^34- 
Ecclesiastical Register, Ixxii. 
Edgar, Lazvs of. See Anglo- 
Saxon Laws. 
Edzvard the Confessor, Lives 

of, Ixxxv. 
Edzvard V., Life of, cxxxvii. 

Grants in Reign of, cxxviii ; 

VI., Literary Remains of, clvi. 
Ellis, H., xxxvi ; cxxv ; 50 ; 

105; 116 et seq. 
Elmhain, Thomas, cxxiv. 
Elwood, Thomas, cxcix. 
Elizabethan Seamen, Voyages 

of, 144; 145 ; 146. See D'Ewes. 
Emma, Queen of the English: 

Emmce Anglorum Regince, 

Ixxxiv. 
England, Chronicle of, cxxi. 



England, Description of, clxxvi. 

England in the Reign of Hen- 
ry VIII., cxlvii. 

England, Manner of Govern- 
ment, 133. 

England, Present State of, 
cxcv. 

England's Recovery, clxxxix. 

England, The Commonwealth 

of,_i33- 
English Catalogue, xi. 
English History for Students, 

Ix. _ 

English Historical Magazine, 

xci — H. Note. 
English Historical Society, 

xxxviii. 
English Works of John Wyc- 

liffe, cxxxv. 
E pis to Ice TigurincB, clii. 
Eulogium Brittanice sive His- 

toria Britonum, Ixxix. 
Evelyn, John, cxvi. 
Excerpta Historica, xxxix. 
Exchequer, Dialogues of, cv. 
Exchequer, History of, cv. 
Exchequer, Little Black Book 

of, 63. 

Fabian, B., 228. 

Fabyan, Robert, cxxv. 

Fairfax, Sir Thomas, clxxxix. 

Fasciculi Zizaniorium, cxxxv ; 
96-97. 

Fasti EcclesicB Anglicance, xl. 
Ecclesice Hihernice, xl. 

" Father of English Antiqua- 
ries," ii. 

Fitz-Neal, Richard, xcix. 

Fitz-Stephen, William, 61. 

Fletcher of Saltoun, The Po- 
litical Works of, ccxxi. 

Florence of Worcester, xc; 43. 

Florilegium Insulce Sanctiorum 
seu Vitce et Acta Sanctorum 
Hihernice, liii. 

Flozvcrs of History, cvii. ■ 
Chap. IX, X. f I 

Fcedera, Conventiones . . ., etc., 
Ixviii — A.; 152. Syllabus 
of, Ixviii — A. 

Foley, H., 178. 

Forbes, Robert, 196; 197; 198; 
199. 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX 



593 



Foreign State Papers, Calen- 
dars of, xxiv. 

Foxe, John, cli. 

French Ambassador at the 
Court of Charles II., ccvii. 

Friars, Grey, Chronicles of, 
cliii. 

Froissart, Chronicle of, cxxix. 

Fryer, John, 229. 

Fuller, Thomas, 151. 

Fulman, Wm., Ixiii — C, 

Gale, Thomas, Ixiii — d. 
Gaimer, Geoffrey, Ixxii. 
Gammage, C. G., 221-222. 
Gardiner, S. R., Ixviii — H. 
Gazette, London, Ixviii — H. 
General Index to British and 

Foreign Literature, ix. 
George II. Memoirs of, ccxxxi. 
George III. lournal, ccxxxi. ; 

Letters, ccxxxi v. ; Co rre- 

spondence with Lord North, 

ccxxxv. 
Geographicce Strahonis, 17. 
Ger mania (Tacitus), Ixxiii. 
Gcsta Guillelmi Ducis Norman- 

norum et Regis Anglorum 

(William of Poitiers), xcv. 
Gesta Stephani Regis Anglo- 
rum et Ducis Normannorum 

xcvi. 
Gestis Re gum Anglorum, 

Ixxxix. 
Gibson, E., xxxiv — BB. 
Gildas, Ixxv ; 19. 
Giraldus Cambrensis, ciii. 
Glanvill, civ. 

Goddard. Guibon, cxcii ; 168. 
Goldsmith, E., xxxiii. 
Goodman, Godfrey, clxxxi. 
Gospel Book, York, 42. 
Grants, Reign of Edzvard V., 

cxxxviii. 
Granvelle Papers, clxvii — A ; 

Correspondence, clxvii — B. 
Grenville, Richards, ccxxviii. 
Grey and Wharton, v ; W. de 

G., xci — C. 
Grey, Debates of tJie House of 

Commons, from 1667-1694.. 

XXX. 

Grim, Edward, 58. 
Gross, Charles, xii. 



Grosseteste, Letters of Bishop, 

cxvii. 
Guide to the Principal Classes 

of Documents Preserved in 

Public Office, Ix. 
Guthry, Henry, cciv. 
Guy of Amiens, cxii. 

Haddan, A. W., xxxiv — C. 
Hakluyt Society, xli, 
xix. 

Hakluyt Society, xli. 

Halliwell, J. O., cix. 

Hall, Hubert, 63. 

Hall's Chronicle, cxlviii. 

Handbook to the Public Rec- 
ords, Ix. 

Handbook to the Land- 
Charters and other Saxonic 
Documents, xci. 

Hand-list of Bibliographies, 
Classified Catalogues and 
Indexes placed in the Read- 
ing Room of the British 
Museum, xiv. 

Hansard, T. C, Parliamentary 
Debates, xlii. See Corbett 
and works cited. 

Hardwicke Papers, clx. 

Hardy, T. D., viii ; xl. 

Hargraves, E., 227. 

Harleian Miscellany, xiii ; So- 
ciety, xliii. 

Harpsfield's Treatise, cxliv. 

Harrison's Description of Eng- 
land, clxxvi. 

Harvard Historical Studies, 
xii. 

Hastings, Song of the Battle 
of, Ixxii. See Carmen de, 
xcii. 

Hastings, Memoirs of Warren, 
230. 

Hayward, A., 200. 

Henningford. Walter, cxiii. 

Hcnrice Archidiaconi Hiintin- 
doniensis Historicu Anglo- 
rum, Ixxxviii. 

Henrys, The Book of the 
Noble, cxxii. 

Henry V, Life of, cxxiv. 

Henry VII, Materials for a 
History of the Reign of, 
cxxxix. 



594 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX 



Henry VIII, Calendar of State 

Papers, xlx; Correspondence 

of, cxliii, 
Herbert of Bosham, 59. 
Herodoti Historiarum, 11. 
Hertslet, L., Ixyiii — H. 
Hexham Chronicles, xcvii. 
HibernicE, de Scriptoribus, vi. . 
Higden, R., cxx. 
Histoire des Trait es de Paix et 

autre s negotiations du dix- 

septieme siecle, etc., Ixviii — 

B. 
Historia Anglicana, cxi. 
Historia Johannis Prioris Ha- 

gustaldensis, Ecclesice, xcvii. 
Historia de mirabilis gestis Ed- 
ward Tertii, cxix. 
Historia a Normannorum in 

Angliani ingressu, xcviii. 
Historia Novorum (Eadmer), 

xciii; 50; 57. 
Historia pice memories Ricar- 

di Prioris Hagustaldensis, 

xcvii. 
Histories Anglorum, Ixxxviii. 
Historians' Guide, 175. 
Historica Ecclesiastica Gentis 

Anglorum (Bede), Ixxvi. 
Historical Collections, Town- 

shend, an Extract Account of 

the Proceedings of the Four 

Last Parliaments of Queen 

Elizabeth . . ., etc., clxv. See 

Collections. 
Historical Documents (Gold- 

smid), 131. 
Historical Literature, Manual 

of, xiii. Charters, 53 ; 56. 
History of the Arrival of Ed- 

zvard IV., cxxxi. 
Histories, Concordance of, 

cxxv. 
History, Flowers of, cvii, 

chaps, ix-x. 
History of the Parliament of 

England which began Nov. 

3, 1640, clxxxvi. 
Holinshcd, Chronicles, cxlix. 
Holies, Memoirs of Denzil 

Lord, cciii. 
Home Department State 

Papers, Calendars of, xxiv. 
Hooker, Richard, 134. 



Hopfe, Ixviii — EG. 
Hoveden, Roger of, 33 — C ; 

46; 65. 
Howes, Edmund, el — b. 
Humberson, Henry, 191. 
Huntingdon , Henry of; 

Ixxxviii. 

Iberno-Celtic Society, xlvi. 

Icelandic Sagas, Ixxx. 

Illustrations of English His- 
tory, xxxix. 

Illustrium Majoris Britann'ice 
Scriptorium . . ., iii. 

Impartial Collection of the 
Great Affairs of State (Nal- 
son), ccii. 

Imperial Assembly at Delhi, 
232. 

Imperial Institute of the United 
Kingdom, the Colonies and 
India Publications, xlv. 

Index to Periodical Literature, 
section 2, p. 6 ; Cumulative, 
section 2, p. 6. General to 
British and Foreign Litera- 
ture, ix. 

India, History of, 231. 

Ingulfas, cxxxiii. 

Invent aire Chronologique des 
Documents Relatifs a I'His- 
toire d'Ecosse, clxviii. 

Irish Historical Bibliography, 
Ware, vi. Tanner, vii. 

Irish History, Scriptores, Ixiii, 
e-f-h, XXV ; Acta Sanctorum, 
xxxii ; xxxiv — C ; Histor- 
ical Societies, xlvi ; Archaeo- 
logical Society, xlvi ; Flori- 
legium, liii ; Ossianic So- 
ciety, Ivi ; Contemporary His- 
tory, cciii. 

Itinerarium Antonini Augusti 
et Hieroslymitanum, Ixxvii. 

Jaffe, P., xxiv — H. 

lames I., Annals of, clxxx ; 
Court of, clxxxi ; History of, 
clxxx; Memorials and Let- 
ters of, clxxxv; Works of, 
149-150. 

lane, Chronicles of Queen, 
clvii. 

lean le Bel, cxxviii. 



I 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX 



595 



Icffries, Life of Lord, ccxi. 

lesuits. Records of English So- 
ciety of, 178. 

lohn, of Acton, xxxiv — E; 
of Amundcsham, cxxvi ; 
Whethamstcdc, cxxvii. 

lournals, House of Commons, 
xlvii ; House of Lords, xlvii. 

Kemble, J. M., xci — B. 

Kennett, W., Complete His- 
tory of England, cxxxvii. ; 
49 — clxxx ; Register, cxciv. 

Ker, John, ccxxiii. 

King lames. His ludgment of 
a King and of Tyrant, 159. 

Kings of England. History of, 
Ixxxvii ; Letters of, 100; 
loi ; 102; 103. 

Kirk, History of Scotland, 
clviii. 

Knighton, H., 94. 

Labanoff, A., clxx. 

Lamont, Elizabeth, clxxviii. 

Lancaster and Durham, xxix. 

Langebek, Ixiii — i. 

Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity 
(Hooker), 134. 

Lazvs and Statutes, xlviii ; 
Sources of, xlviii. See Stat- 
utes ; Legal Documents, xci ; 
Ancient Laws ; Anglo-Saxon 
Law ; Cnut's Laws ; Selden 
Society, etc., etc. 

Leclerc, v. 

Lee, Sidney, vii. 

Legibus et Consuefudinibus 
Anglice, cxv, 

Leland. John, ii. 

Le Neve. J., xl. 

Letters, see Correspondence. 

Letters from George Lord 
Carew to Sir Thomas Roe, 
clxxxiii. 

Letters and Papers Illustrative 
of the Wars of the English 
in France during the Reign 
of Henry VI, cxxviii. 

Levi, L., 224. 

Lezves and Ever sham, dc 
Bellis, cix. 

Liber de Illustribus Henricis, 
cxxii. 



Liebermann, xci — E. 

Literary Remains of King Ed- 
ward the Sixth, clvi. 

Literature, Historical, see Sec- 
tions I and 2. 

Liturgical Texts, x,liv. • 

London Catalogue, xi. 

London Gazette, Ixviii — H. 

London, Chronicles of, cxlv. 

Lords, House of, lournals, 
xlvii. See Commons, De- 
bates, Parliament, Cobbett. 
Hanzard, etc., etc. 

Lords, Protests of (1624- 
1874), clxxxvi. 

Lords, Report on the Dignity 
of a Peer, 81. 

Lowndes, W., x. 

Luttrell, Narcissus, cxcviii. 

Lynwood,W., xxxiv — E. 

Lyon in Mourning, 196; 197; 
198; 199. 

Mabillon, 1. 

Macaulay, Life and Letters of 
T. B., 220. 

Macpherson, J., Papers, ccxiii. 

Madox, T., cv. 

Magazines, American Histor- 
ical, English Historical, xci 
— H note. 

Marie Stuart, Lettres, Instruc- 
tions et Memoires, clxx. 

Maitland, F. W., xci — D; cxvi. 

M ait land Club, li. 

Malmcsbury, Correspondence 
of lames Harris, First Earl 
of, ccxxxvi. 

Malmcsbury, William of, 
Ixxxix. 

Manner of Government or 
Policies of the Realme of 
England. 133. 

Mansi, J. D., xx. 

Manual of Historical Litera- 
ture, xiii. 

Manuel du Libra ire, xiv. 

Manx Society, Hi. 

Marini. cxviii. 

Marten, G. F. de, Ixviii — D. 

Martene, E., Ixviii, Ixix. 

Martyrs, Book of, cli. 

Mary (1689), History of King 
William and Queen, ccxix. 



596 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX 



Materials for the History of 

Archbishop Becket, 58. 
Materials forUie History of 

Britain, Ixxii. 
Materials for the History of 
the Reign of Henry VII, 
cxxxix. 
Matthew Paris, cviii. 
MaunselVs Catalogue, xi. 
May, T., clxxxvi. 
Melrose, Chronicles of, xcvii. 
Melrose, Papers and Corre- 
spondence, clxxxii. 
Memoirs of Guthry, cciv ; 
Dalrymple, ccv. ; Hervey, 
ccxxii; Ker, ccxxiii ; Wal- 
pole, ccxxxi; Court and 
Cabinets of George HI., 
ccxxxix; W rax all, 209; 
Hastings, 230. 
Memorials of Affairs of State 

(Winwood, R.), clxxiv. 
Memorials of the English Af- 
fairs, Thurloe, cci; White- 
lock, cc. 
Memorials and Letters Relat- 
ing to the History of Britain 
(Dalrymple), clxxxv. 
Mercurius Publicus, 173-174. 
Messingham, Thomas, liii. 
Metropolitan Cambrian Insti- 
tute, Ixx. 
Milton, John, Works of, ccx. 
Middle Ages, xxix ; xxviii. 
Migne, L'Abbe, liv. 
Miscellanea, novo ordine di- 
gesta et non paucis ineditis 
monumentis . . ., etc., xx. 
Missionary Priests, Memoirs 

of, clxxi. 
Monastic Annals, xcii. 
Monastic Chronicles, cxi. 
Monasticon Anglicanum, 

xxxvi. 
Monasteries, Suppression of, 

cliv. 
Monstrelet's Narratives, cxxx, 
Monumenta Historica Britan- 

nica, Iv ; Ixxii. 
Monumenta Britannica ex 
Autographis Romanorum 
Pontificum, cxviii. 
More, Sir Thomas, cxxxvii ; 
cxlvi. 



Morris, J., clxxiii. 

Mullinger, J. B., Ix. 

Munimenta Gildhallce Lon- 
doniensis, cxiv. 

Murhard, Ixviii — E — F. 

Mush, John, 142. 

Mysteries of State and Govern- 
ment, clxii. 

Nalson, John, ccii. 
Narratives of the Expulsion of 

the English from Normandy, 

cxxviii. 
Narratives of the Days of the 

Reformation, civ. 
N egotiations of Count 

d'Avaux, ccvi. 
Negotiations Secretes, Ixviii — 

B. 
Nennius, History of Britain, 

Ixxix. 

Nennius Vindicatus, Ixxix. 

Neve, see Le Neve. 

Neivbury, William of, xcviii. 

New South Wales, History of, 
226. 

Nicholas Trivet's Annals, ex. 

Noailles Dispatches, clxix. 

Nolan, E. H., 231. 

North Briton, 201. 

North, Correspondence with 
George HI., ccxxxv. 

Norths, Lives of the (Roger 
North), ccix. 

Northumberland, Short Chro- 
nicle of, Ixii. 

Normandie, Histoire de, cxiv. 

Norman History and Histo- 
rians, xxii, XXV. 

Note Book, Bracton's, cxvi. 

Notes of Debates (1621), 
clxxxvi. 

Notes of Proceedings in the 
Long Parliament, clxxxvi. 

Notitia, Anglia, 192. 

Notitia Dignitatum et Admi- 
nistrationum . . ., Ixxviii. 

Nouveau Recueil . . . depuis 
1808, jusqu'd present . . . 
(Martens), Ixviii — E. 

Nouveau Recueil General . . . 
Continuation du Grand Re- 
cueil [Martens], . . . Deuxi- 
eme Serie, Ixviii — G. 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX 



597 



Nouvcaux Supplements an Re- 
cueil de Traites [Martens], 
Ixviii. 

O'Connor, C, Ixiii — h. 
Official List of the Empire, 

Ixxviii. 
Official Year Book of the 

Scientific and Learned So- 

cities, xi ; Ixxi. 
Pldmixon, J., ccxix ; 193. 
Ordericus Vitalis, xciv. ; 44 ; 

46; 54- 

Original Letters (Ellis), 50; 
104; 116; 117; 118. 

Original Papers Containing the 
Secret History of Great Bri- 
tain from the Restoration to 
the Accession of the House 
of Hanover, ccxiii. 

Ormonde, Letters and Papers 
of the Duke of, cciii. 

Ossianic Society, Ivi. 

Our Times, History of (Bur- 
net), cxciii. 

Palgrave, R, Iviii. 

Papal Letters, xxxiv — H — I. 

Paris, Matthew, cviii. 

Parker Society, Iviii. 

Parliamentary Debates (1610), 
clxxxvi. See Debates, Par- 
liamentary History, Papers, 
Writs, Returns, etc. 

Parliamentary History, Cob- 
bett, xxx ; 106 ; 102 ; 108 ; 
154; 167; 171; 217. Con- 
tinuation of Cobbett, xlii ; 
or Constitutional, xxx ; 
Townshend. clxiv ; clxv ; 
clxxxvi. See also xxx. 
D'Ezves Journals: Chandler 
and Timherland's Debates; 
Grey's Debates: Almond De- 
hates; Debrett's Debates; 
Parry's The Parliaments and 
Councils of England. See 
also X. Parliamentary In- 
telligencer, 172. Mercurius 
Puhlicus, 173; 174: Annual 
Register, cxxviii., etc., etc. 

Parliamentary Proceedings, see 
Parliamentary History. 

Parliamentary Returns, Iviii. 



Parliamentary Writs, Iviii. 

Papers,The Verney, clxxxvii. 

Parry, The Parliaments and 
Councils of England, xxx. 

Paston Letters, cxxxii. 

Patriologice Cursus CompletuSy 
liv. 

Payne, J. A., 144-145-146. 

Pecock, R., cxxxiv. 

Peer, Lord's Report upon the 
Dignity of, 81. 

Penns and Penningtons of the 
i/th Century, cxcix. 

Pepys, Samuel, cxcvii. 

Periodical Literature, Poole 
Fletcher's Index to. Section 
2, p. 6. Cumulative Index 
to. Section 2, p. 6. 

Peterborough, Benedict of, 
cxix. 

Petrie, H., Iv.. Ixxii ; Ixxxi. 

Pinkerton, J., liii. 

Pipe Roll Society, lix. 

Pitt, William, Correspondence 
of, ccxvii. 

Pitts, John, 14. 

P lantag enets , Court Life 
under, 63. 

Poitiers, William of, xcv. 

Pole, Reginald, cxliv. 

Polybii Historiarum, 14. 

Polychronicon, cxx. 

Polydore Virgil, cxl. 

Potthast, A., xxxiv — I. 

Pre-Norman Sources, Section 4. 

Present State of England 
Compleat, cxcv. 

Pretended Divorce bctivecn 
Henry VIII . . ., cxliv. 

Prince of Wales, Chronicle of, 
Ixxii. 

Principal Navigations, Voy- 
ages, Traffiques and Dis- 
coveries of the English Na- 
tion, 144 et seq. 

Protestant Historians, Ac- 
counts of, see Bale. iii. 

Protests of the House of 
Lords (1624-1874), clxxxvi. 

Prothero. G. W., clxxv. 

Provinciale seu Constifutiones 
Anglicr . . . a Stephano Lang- 
tono ad Heuricum Chich- 
leium, xxxiv — E. 



598 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX 



Prynne, W., Iviii. 

Puritan Revolution, clxxxvii. 

Quadrilogus, 59. 

Radulfi de Diceto Decani Lon- 
deniensis Opera Historica, 
ci. 

Rapin de Thoyras, ccxx. 

Rebellion and Civil War in 
England (Clarendon), 

clxxxiv. 

Records : Record Society, 
xxiii ; Classified and De- 
fined Ix; Handbook to, Ix; 
Guide to Principal Classes 
of Documents Preserved in 
Public Record Office, Ix ; Of 
the Reformation, cxlv ; Of 
the English Province of the 
Society of Jesus, 191 ; Best 
Books and Reader's Guide, 
xiv. 

Recueil des Historiens des 
Gaules et de la France, xxii. 
Cf. Rerum Gallicarum. 

Recueil de Traites d' Alliance, 
de Paix, de Treve, de Neu- 
tralite, de Commerce, de 
Limites, d'Echange . . ., etc., 
etc., Ixviii — D. 

Reformation, Records of, cxlv : 
Narratives of the Days of, 
civ; History of, 114, 115; 
120; 121. 

Regesta Pontificum Romano- 
rum, J a f f e, xxxiv — H ; 
Potthast, xxxiv — I. 

Register and Chronicle Eccle- 
siastical and Civil, cxciv. 

Register, Annual, 6o-ccxxxii ; 
210; 211; 212; 213; 214; 215; 
216. 

Registrum. Abbatice Johannis 
Whethamstede, cxxvii. 

Relation, A, or rather a true 
account of . . ., cxlii. 

Relationum Historicarum de 
Rebus Anglicis, iv. 

Relations Politique s de la 
France et de I'Espagne avec 
VEcosse au XVI. Siecle, 
clxviii. 

Reliquiae Baxteriancc, ccviii. 



Repressor, Pecock, cxxiv. 

Reprints, Arber English, cxlvi ; 
and Translations (University 
of Pennsylvania), 55; 60; 
80; 81. 

Rerum Gallicarum et Franci- 
carum Scriptores, xxii. 

Richard of Divizeo, cii. 

Richard III., Life of. More, 
cxxxvii. 

Rights, Book of, 86. 

Rishanger, William, cix ; cxi. 

Robert, of Avesbury, History 
of Ediv. HI, cxix. 

Robert, Fabyan, cxxi. 

Roger of Hoveden, Annals, c; 
64; 65. 

Roger of Wendover, cvii, 
chaps, ix-x. 

Rolls, Pipe, Great or Exche- 
quer, Charter, Close, Hun- 
dred, Patent, Plea, etc., lix. 

Rolls Series, xxxi. 

Rose, George ccxxix. 

Rousset, Ixviii — B. 

Royal Historical Society, Ixi. 

Royal Letters, see Correspond- 
ence. 

Royal Society, Ixi. 

Rushworth, J., Collections and 
Private Passages of Skite, 
clxxxvi ; 153; 156; 160; 161; 
162 ; 163. 

Russell. M., clix. 

Rymer, T., Ixviii — A. See 
Foedera. 

Sagas, Icelandic, Ixxx. 
Saints, British, xvi ; xviii ; 1 ; 

liii ; see Irish and Scottish 

history. 
Saltoun, Fletcher of, ccxxi. 
Samwer, Ixviii — E — G. 
Sanderson, R., Ixviii — A. 
Savigny-Stiftung, Zeitschrift 

der, xci — E. 
Savile, H., Ixiii — a. 
Schmid, R., xci — E, 
Scotland, History of the 

Church of, clix. See Kirk. 
Scottish Burg Record Society, 

Ixv. 
Scottish History Society, Ixi, 

195. 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX 



599 



Scriptores : Camden, xxv ; Post 
Bcdam (Savile), Ixiii — a; 
Decern (Juysdem), ibid. — 
b; Rcrum Anglicarmn (Ful- 
man), ibid. — c; XV (Gale), 
ibid. — d ; Varii ( Sparkes) , 
ibid. — e; Vetustiores (Com- 
melin), ibid. — f ; Norman- 
nice (Duchesne) , ibid. — g ; 
Veteres rerum Hibernicarum 
(O'Connor), ibid. — h; Re- 
rum Danicarum Medii .^vi 
(Langbeck), ibid. — i; Rc- 
rum gestarum JVilliebni Con- 
qucstoris, cxv. 

Scrip torn m Ecclesiasticoru m 
Historia Litteraria, v. 

Selden Society, Ixiv. 

Select Charters and other Il- 
lustrations of English Con- 
stitutional History, from the 
Earliest Period to the Reign 
of Edward I, xci — G. 

Select English Works of Wyc- 
lif (Arnold), cxxxvi. 

Select Statutes and otJier Con- 
stitutional Documents (Pro- 
thero), clxxv. 

Seu Liber Ccnsualis IVillielmi 
Primi, xci — D. 

Sharpe, J., Iv ; Ivxxii ; Ixxxix. 

Shrezvsbury, Correspondence 
of Charles Talbot, Duke of, 
ccxii. 

Siculus, Diodorus, 17. 

Six Old English Chronicles, 
Ixxv. 

Simeonis Dunelmensis Opera 
et Collectanea, Ixxxvii. 

Smith, Sir Thomas, 133. 

Societies, Learned and Scien- 
tific, Publications of, xx; 
Ixxxi. 

Some Sources of History for 
the Monmouth Rebellion and 
the Bloody Assises, ccxxi. 

S m e r' s Tracts, clxiii ; 
clxxxvi ; 130; 140; 141; 143. 

Soder, see Manx. 

Sonnenschein, W. S., xiv. 

Song of the Battle of Hastings, 
Ixxii. 

Sources, Bibliography of. Part 
I, pp. 2 to 61 ; Catalogues of, 



p. 5 ; Great Collections of, p. 
9 ; Arranged by Epochs — 
Pre-Norman Period, p. 26 ; 
Conquest to Charter, p. 31 ; 
Charter to Reformation, p. 
34 ; Tudor Period, p. 40 ; 
Stuart Period, p. 49; Hano- 
verian Period, p. 55 ; Nine- 
teenth Century, p. 61. 
Sources of the Lazv of Eng- 
land, xlviii. 
Spalding Club, Ixv. 
Sparkes, Jos., Ixiii — E. 
Sparrow's Collection, xxxiv. 
Spelman, H., xxxiv — F. 
Spicillegium sive Collectio ve- 
terum aliquot Scriptorum 
qui in Gallia Bibliothecis de- 
lituerant, . . . xxxv. 
Spottiswoode, John, clix. 
Spottiszvoode Society, clix. 
Staffords, William, clxxviii. 
Starkey, England in the reign 
of Henry the Eighth, cxlvii. 
State Papers, Calendars of, 
xxiv ; cxliii ; Selections from, 
ibid.; Miscellaneous, clx. 
State Papers and Miscellaneous 
Correspondence of Thomas, 
Earl of Melrose, clxxxii. 
State Papers of Edzvard, Earl 
of Clarendon, Calendar of 
Same, cci. 
State Papers of William Cars- 
tares, ccxv. 
State Papers of John Thurloe, 

cci. 
State Tracts, ccxiv. 
Statutes and Lazvs; of the 
Realm, xlviii ; cvi ; 28 ; 85 ; 
87; 90; 91; 92; 93; 95; 99: 
119; 155; 177; 189; 190. At 
Large, xlviii — b — c ; 84 ; 
88; 109; no; in; 112-113: 
164; 129. At Large of the 
United Kingdom of Great 
Britain and Ireland, xlviii — 
c; Public General, xlviii — 
d ; Evans' Collection of, 
194; 208; Scobcll's Col- 
lection (Commonwealth), 
clxxxvi; 164-165-166. 
Stephen, Life of, cxvi. 
Stoerk, Ixviii — G. 



6oo 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX 



Stow, John, cl. Summarie of 
the Chronicles of England, 
cl — a; Annales, or a Gen- 
eral Chronicle of England, 
ibid. (b). 

Survey of the Cities of London 
. . . cl — c. 

Strahonis Geographice, i6. 

Strafford, Letters and De- 
spatches of Thomas VVcnti- 
worth. Earl of, 158. 

Stubbe, Phillip, clxxvii. 

Stubbs, W., xxxiv — C ; xci — 
G ; xciv ; cl ; 43 ; 62. 

Strype, John, cl-c; 136; 137. 

St. Albans, Chronicle of the 
Monastery, cxi. See Am- 
undesham, Wethamstede. 

Summarie of the Chronicles of 
England, cl. 

Surtees Society, Ixvi. 

Swift, Works of Dean, ccxvi. 

Sylvester, Matthew, ccviii. 

Synodalia, A Collection of Ar- 
ticles of Religion . . ., etc. 
(1547-1717), xxiv — B. 

Tacitus, Germania, Ixxiii ; 
Agricola, Ixxiii. 

Tanner, Thomas, vii. 

Thesaurus Novns Anecdoto- 
rum, Ixvii. 

Thomas, of Elham, cxxiv ; 
Earl of Melrose, clxxxii ; St. 
of Canterbury, 58 et seq. 

Thorpe, B., Ix; xc; xci — A; 
Chap. V; 41; 52. 

Thoyras, see Rapin. 

Thurloe, John, cci. 

Three Chapters of Letters re- 
lating to the Suppression of 
the Monasteries, cliv. 

Tigui'incE, Epistolce, cli. 

Tindal, N., ccxx. 

Titi Livii Foro-Juliensis Vita 
Henrici Quinti, cxxii. 

Topographia HibernicB, ciii. 

Townshend, Heywood, clxv. 

Tractatus de Legibus et Con- 
suetudinibus regni Anglice 
tempore Regis Henrici Se- 
cundi Compositus, civ. 

Translations and Reprints, U. 
of P., 56; 60; 80; 81. 



Treaties and Conventions, 
Ixviii — A; Rymer, Foedera; 
— B, Dumont, Corps Univer- 
sel Diplomatique ; Histoire 
des Traites de Paix; Ne- 
gotiations Secretes; — C, 
Wenk, Corpus Juris Gentium 
Recentissimi . . . ; — D, Mar- 
ten, Recueil de Traites d' Al- 
liance, etc. . . . ; — E, Mar- 
tens, Murhard, Samwer and 
Hopfe, Nouveau Recueil; — 
F, Murhard, Nouveau Sup- 
plements au Recueil de Trai- 
tes; — G, Samwer, Hopfe 
and Stoerk, Nouveau Recueil 
General; — H, Hertslet's 
Commercial Treaties; Mod- 
ern Treaties ; New Treaties. 

Trivet, Nicholas, ex. 

Trokelowe, J. de, cxi. 

Troubles of our Catholic Fore- 
fathers, clxxiii ; 142. 

Tub, Tale of a, ccxvi. 

Twysden, Ixii — b. 

Union betzveen Great Britain 
and Ireland, History of, 206- 
207. 

Universe, The, 12. 

Urbinatis Anglicce Histori . . ., 
cxi. 

Usk, Adam of, cxxiii. 

Utopia, cxlvi. 

Venetian Relation, cxlii. 
Verney, Ralph, clxxxvi; Sir 

Harry, clxxxvii. 
Verney Papers, clxxxvii. 
Vetera Analecta, xxxv. 
Veterum Scriptorum et Monu- 

mentorum . . ., Ixix. 
Virgil, Polydore, cxi. 
Vitalis, Ordericus, cxiv; 44; 

46; 54- 

Walker, Sir Edward, clxxxviii. 

Walpole, Horace, ccxxxi. 

Walsingham, T., Historica An- 
glicana, cxi. 

Walter Henningford's Chron- 
icle, cxiii. 

Ware, Sir James, vi. 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX 



601 



Welsh Manuscripts, Ixx ; ^o- 
ciety, Ixx — d. 

Wenck, F. A. G., Ixviii — c. 

Wendover, Roger of, cvii ; 
Chap. IX, X. 

Wheeler, J. T., 223. 

Whitelock, Bulstrode, Memo- 
rials, cc. 

Whitehall, Secret History of, 
176. 

Whit gift, Life and Acts of 
John, 136. 

Wilkes, John, 201. 

Wilkins, D.. xxiv — 9. 

William III ; Correspondence 
of, ccxii : Papers concern- 
ing, ccxiii ; State Tracts of 
Reign of, ccxiv ; ccxv ; His- 
tory of, ccix, ccxx ; Letters 
to Louis XIV, ccxxiv. 



Wi I Ham: of M alme sbury, 
Ixxxix ; of Poitiers, xcv ; 
The Conqueror, ibid.; 50; 
of Newbury, xcviii ; Ris- 
hanger, cix ; of Worcester, 
cxxviii ; Fitz StepJien, 61. 

Winwood's Memorials, clxxiv. 

Wodrow Society, li. 

Worcester, Florence of, ex ; 
43 ; William of, cxxviii. 

Wraxall, N. W., 209. 

Writs, Parliamentary, Iviii. 

Year Books, Ixxi. 
York Gospel Book, 42. 

Zimmer, H., Ixxix. 
Zizaniorurn Fasciculi, cxxxv; 

94-96. 
Zurich Letters, clii. 



SUBJECT INDEX 

A Subject Index to a work of the character of the Source- 
Book of English History could without difficulty be extended to 
cover many pages. In the present instance it has been deemed 
expedient simply to present the group indications. From this, 
the student will have no difficulty in finding information on any 
subject contained in the book. 

^^^ The references are to Sections, not to pages. 



Act of Settlement, 190. 

Act of Supremacy, 11 1. 

Acts of Union, England and 
Scotland : Queen Anne's 
speeches upon, 193 ; Act, 194. 
Great Britain and Ireland: 
The Union advocated, 206 ; 
the Union opposed, 207 ; 
Act, 208. 

^lla and his sons land in Bri- 
tain, 23. 

Agricola in Britain, 18. 

Aid : Levying in time of 
Richard I., 65 ; in time of 
James I., 152. (See Benev- 
olence, Ship-money.) 

Albion, 12. 

Alfred, 38, 39. 

American Exploration, 144 ; 
145; 146; 147. 

American Revolution, Ch. 
XXVIII. The Question of 
Taxation, 202 ; The Policy 
of Conciliation, 203 ; The 
Right to Tax, 204 ; Character 
of the American Colonists, 
205. 

Angevins, Chs. VIII, IX, X. 

Angles invade Britain, 22. 

Anglican Views in Time of 
Elizabeth, 134. 

Anglo-Saxon Invasion, De- 
scription of, 22. 



Anglo-Saxon Laws of Alfred, 
Athelstan, and Edgar, Ch. V. 

Angylde, 31, 35. 

Annates, Payment to the Pope 
forbidden, 107. 

Anne, Speeches on Union of 
England and Scotland, 193. 

Anselm and Henry I., 57. 

Anti-Papal Statutes, 90. (See 
also Ch. XV.) 

Appeals to Rome prohibited, 
108. 

Armada, Defeat of Spanish, 
140. 

Armada, Speech made by Eliz- 
abeth, 141. 

Aske, Robert and the Pilgrim- 
age of Grace, 118. 

Asportatis Rcligiosorum, 87. 

Augustine's Mission, 24. 

Australia, Ch. XXXIII: Es- 
tablishment of the Colony, 
225 ; First Penal Settlement, 
226 ; Discovery of Gold, 22y : 
Results of the Finding of 
Gold, 228. 



Barons win Magna Charta 

from John, Ch. X. 
Becket, Thomas a : Quarrels 

with Henry, and Death of, 

58, 59, 60, 61. 



603 



6o4 



SUBJECT INDEX 



Benevolences, 153. 

Bible in the English Churches, 

120. 
Bill of Rights, 189. 
Bishops in Secular Courts, 

41, 52. 

Black Death, Ch. XII. 

Bolton, Sufferings at, 223. 

Books and Images, Act against, 
124. 

Bohrs, 36; 41. 

Bot, 25 ; 34 ; 36 ; Ch. V, passim. 

Breda, Declaration of, 171. 
(See Declaration of Breda.) 

Britannic Islands : First men- 
tion of, 12 ; way to and prod- 
ucts of, 13. 

Bright, John, 224. 

Britain : First mention of, 12 ; 
first mention of by name, 
13 ; tin of, 13 ; first Roman 
invasion of, 14; tin mines of, 
17; climate of, 17, 18; trade 
route to Rome, 17; descrip- 
tion of, 18; abandoned by 
Romans, 19; invaded by 
Picts and Scots, 19; invaded 
by Anglo-Saxons, 22. 

Britons : Mode of warfare, 14, 
18 ; description of, 14, 18 ; 
characteristics of, 15, 17; 
form of government, 18. 

Briton, The North, 201. 

Burhs, 36, 41. 

Burke, Speech on the Character 
of the American Colonists, 
205. 

Cabal, 175, 176. 

Cabinet Government, 175, 176. 

Caesar in Britain, 14, 16. 

Campeius, Cardinal, Speech at 
Divorce Trial, 105. 

Canterbury, the centre of ori- 
ginal Christianity, 24. 

Canute : Becomes King of Eng- 
land, 40 ; Laws of, 41 ; Char- 
ter of, 42 ; Letter of, 43. 

Cassiterides, 12. 

Castlereagh on Union of Great 
Britain and Ireland, 206. 

Catholics : Under Henry VIII., 
Ch. XV ; under Edward VI., 
Ch. XVI ; under James II., 



178; under William III., 
191. 

Catholic Emancipation : The 
No - Popery Riots, 209 ; 
Speech of King George, 210; 
of Attorney-General against, 
211 ; of Lord Plunkett for, 
212; of Duke of Wellington 
on, 213. 

Ceap-gild, 31, 36. 

Cerdic and Cynric settle Wes- 
sex, 23. 

Charles, Prince. (See Pre- 
tender, Young.) 

Charles I. : Abandons Straf- 
ford, 158; 158a; 158b; Sum- 
mary of Grievances against, 
159; Charge against, 160; 
Charles refuses to plead, 161 ; 
Sentence of the King, 162; 
Death Warrant of the King, 
163. 

Charles II. makes the Declara- 
tion of Breda, 171. 

Charta, Magna : Winning of, 
Ch. X : Text of, 8oj Con- 
firmation of by Edward I., 
82. 

Chartism, 221, 222. 

Chatham, Earl of. Speech on 
the Policy of Conciliation, 
203. 

Chippenham, Treaty of, 39. 

Christianity re-introduced into 
England, 24. 

Church : Right to Tithes, 32 ; 
Scot, 32 ; Hearth-penny, 32 ; 
Teachings enforced by secu- 
lar power, 42. 

Church and State, Relations 
of : Danes, 42 ; Normans, 
50, 51, 52; Angevins, 58, 59, 
60, 61 ; Struggle between 
John and Innocent III., Ch. 
IX ; Ecclesiastical Sanction 
of Secular Law, 83 ; Mort- 
main, 85 ; De Asportatis Re- 
ligiosorum, 87 ; Provisors, 
90; Second Statute of Pro- 
visors, 92 ; Great Statute of 
Praemunire, 93 ; Payment of 
Annates forbidden, 107 ; Ap- 
peals to Rome prohibited, 
108; Heresy punished, 109; 



li 



SUBJECT INDEX 



605 



Clergy forced to submit to 
Henry VIII., no; Act of 
Supremacy, in; Denial of 
the Authority of the Pope, 
112; Dissolution of the Mon- 
asteries, 113; Surrender of a 
Monastery, 114; Visitation of 
Monasteries, 115; Six Arti- 
cles, 119; Bible in the 
Churches, 120; Services to 
be in English, 121. 

Church Services : To be in Eng- 
lish, 121, 123, 124; Provisions 
for Uniformity in, 123 ; 124 ; 
Against Books and Images, 
124. 

Clarendon : Constitutions of, 
60; Assize of, 62. 

Classes of People in the XVIth 
Century, 133. 

Clergy: Status of, 30; Privi- 
leges of, 59, 60 ; Submission 
of to Henry VIII., no. 

Clithero, Margaret, Death of 
142. 

Cobden, Richard, 224. 

Coke, Sir Edward, 155. 

Common Prayer, Book of Ed- 
ward VI., 124. 

Commonwealth, England to be, 
166. 

Commonwealth Period, Ch. 
XXII. 

Communion. (See Six Arti- 
cles and Sacrament.) 

Constitution of the King's 
Household, 63. 

Constitutions of Clarendon, 60. 

Corn Law : Suffering of the 
Lower Classes, 223 ; Repeal 
of the Corn Law, 224. 

Coronation Oaths : of William 
I., 45; of Edward II., 89; of 
James I., 148. 

Croke, Richard, 104. 

Cromwell, Oliver : Disciplines 
his first Parliament, 168; 
C. and the kingship, 169. 

Cromwell, Richard, becomes 
Lord Protector, 170. 

Cromwell, Thomas, and the 
Destruction of the Mon- 
asteries, 116. 

Culloden, Atrocities after 198. 



Danes in England, Ch. VI. In- 
vasions, T,y ; Treaty with Al- 
fred, 39; Second Period of 
Invasion, 40; Laws, 41. 

Declaration of Breda, 171 ; Re- 
ception of by Parliament, 
172; Thanks of Parliament 
to Sir John Grenville for 
bringing Declaration, 173. 

Dissenters in the Eighteenth 
Century, 192. 

Divine Right of Kings, 149, 
150. 

Divorce between Henry VIII. 
and Katherine of Aragon, 
104, 105, 106. 

Dooms, 36. (See Ordeal.) 

Doomsday Survey, 48; Manor, 
example of Survey, 49. 

Dudley, Lady Jane. (See 
Grey, Lady Jane.) 



Ecbert, Overlord of Britain, 
23. 

Edward I. : Confirms Char- 
ters, 82; Abolishes unjust 
Taxation, 82, 84; De Tal- 
lagio non Conccdendo, 84 ; 
Mortmain, 85 ; Provides for 
Safety of Members of Parlia- 
ment, 86 ; Prevents Revenues 
of English religious Houses 
being carried beyond seas, 
87; Quia Emptorcs, 88. 

Edward II., Coronation Oath 
of, 90. 

Edward HI. : Statute of Pro- 
visors, 80; Statute of Trea- 
sons, 91 ; Second Statute of 
Provisors. 92. 

Edward VI. : Reign of, Ch. 
XVI ; Journal of, 125. 

Elizabeth : Reign of, Ch. 
XVIII ; Religious Sects in 
Time of. 134. 135, 136, 137; 
E. and Mary Stuart. 139; Ar- 
mada Speech of, 141 ; Death 
of. 143. 

Elizabethan Seamen, Ch. XIX. 

Emancipation, Era of, Ch. 
XXX. 

England becomes one King- 
dom, 23. 



6o6 



SUBJECT INDEX 



English, Church Services to be 

in, 121, 123. 
English Bible to be accessible 

in all Churches, 121. 
Eorl, how man might become, 

30. 
Ethelbert, King of Kent, and 

Augustine, 24. 
Excommunication of John, 68. 

Fasts. (See Festivals.) 
Festivals and Fasts, 35. 
Finch, Lord Keeper, 156. 

Gascoyne, General, and the 
First Reform Bill, 219. 

Gemot, 31, 36; of Salisbury, 
48. 

George IV., Speech in favor of 
Catholic Emancipation, 210. 

Germans, Description of the 
ancient, 21. 

Gordon, Lord George, 209. 

Government, Instrument of, 
167. 

Grattan opposes the Union be- 
tween Great Britain and Ire- 
land, 207. 

Gregory I. sends missionaries 
to England, 24. 

Gregory IX., Bull against 
Wycliffe, 97. 

Grenville, George, Speech on 
Question of taxing American 
Colonies, 202. 

Grey, Lady Jane : Claim to the 
Throne, 126; Execution of, 
127; House of Lords sup- 
ports her claim, 128a. 

Guthrum, 2)7, 39- 

Habeas Corpus Act, 177. 
Hceretico Comhurendo, De, 99. 
Hampden, John, 146, 157. 
Harold, King : defeats Harold 

Hardrada and Tostig, and 

himself defeated by William 

the Conqueror, 44. 
Harold Hardrada and Tostig 

invade England, 44. 
Hastings, Battle of, 44. 
Hastings, Warren, Letter of, 

230. 
Hearth-penny, 34, 



Hengist, 22. 

Henry I. : Charter of Liberties, 
55 ; Charter to the City of 
London, 56; Quarrel with 
Anselm, 57. 

Henry II. : H. and a Becket, 
58, 59, 61 ; Constitutions of 
Clarendon, 60 ; Assize of 
Clarendon, 62 ; Court Life 
under Henry II., 62,. 

Henry IV. : De HcBretico Com- 
hurendo, 99. 

Henry V. and VI. : Letters 
against Lollards, 100, loi, 
102. 

Henry VIII. : Divorce from 
Katherine of Aragon, 104, 
105, 106; and the Church, 
Attitude to the Catholic Doc- 
trines, 119. 

Hercules, Pillars of, 13. 

Heretics: De Hcsretico Com- 
hurendo, 99; Royal Letters 
concerning, 100 et seq.; 
Mandate for burning, 103 ; 
Attitude of Henry VIII. to- 
ward, 109; of Edward VI., 
123, 124 ; Mary burns Hoop- 
er, 131 ; Ridley and Latimer, 
132. 

Heriot, 41. 

Hooper, Bishop John, burnt by 
Mary Tudor, 131. 

Horsa, 22. 

Hundred : Edgar's Ordinance 
of, 31 ; witnesses for, 41. 

Ida reigns over Northumbria, 

23- 

lerne, 12. 

Images, Act against, 124. 

India: Ch. XXIV; English at 
Surat and Bombay, 229; 
Warren Hastings, 230; Ces- 
sion of India to the Bri- 
tish Crown. 231 ; Victoria 
made Empress of India, 232. 

Inheritance, Danish rule, 41. 

Instrument of Government, 
167. 

Interdict on England, 67. 

Investiture, Controversy, 57. 

Jacobite Rebellions, Ch. XXVI. 



SUBJECT INDEX 



607 



James I. : Nominated as Suc- 
cessor to Elizabeth, 143 ; 
Oath of, 148; His Theory of 
Position of King, 149, 150; 
J. and the Commons, 154. 

James II. : J. and the Catholics, 
178; Last Appeal to J. that 
he would reform his Govern- 
ment, 179. 

James IV., Proclamation of, 
195. (See also Pretender, 
Young. ) 

Jesuits in England : under 
James II., 178; under Wil- 
liam III., 119. 

Jews: End of Disability, 214; 
Oaths Act, 215; Relief Act, 
216. 

John : J. and Innocent III., Ch. 
IX ; J. excommunicated, 68 ; 
deposed, 69 ; submits, 70 ; 
71 ; resigns Crown and King- 
dom to the Pope, 72 ; does 
homage to the Pope, 7^ ; J.'s 
struggle with the Barons, 
Ch. X ; grants Magna Char- 
ta; 79. 

Jury. (See Assize of Claren- 
don.) 

Justice, how administered : in 
the Hundred, 31, 36, Ch. V, 
passim; under the Danes, 
under the Normans, 52, 55 ; 
under the Angevins, 62 (see 
text of Magna Charta, 80) ; 
under the Tudors, 108. 

Jutes, 22. 

Katherine of Aragon, Divorce 
from Henry VIII., Ch. XIV. 

Kent begun, 23. 

Kindred of Lordless and Land- 
less Men. 26, 27. 

King, Office of abolished, 164. 

Laborers : effect of Black 
Death on, 94; Statute of, 95. 

Lad, 41. 

Lancaster Herald's Mission to 
Insurgents of the Pilgrim- 
age of Grace, 118. 

Landless Men, 27. 

Latimer, Bishop Hugh, burnt 
by Mary Tudor, 132. 



Law : Anglo-Saxon, Ch. V. 
(See Justice) ; Growth of, 
Ch. XL 

Life at the Court of an Ange- 
vin King, 63. 

Lollardy, Ch. XIII. 

London : First Charter of, 53 ; 
Charter from Henry I., 56 ; 
given up to the Barons, 78; 
Convention of, 235. 

London, John, Letter on sup- 
pression of the Monasteries, 
117a, 117c. 

Lordless Men, 26. 

Macaulay, Lord, describes pas- 
sage of First Reform Bill, 
220. 

Magna Charta. (See Charta, 
Magna.) 

Mansfield, Lord, Speech on the 
Right to tax American Colo- 
nies, 204. 

Mary (Tudor) : Attitude on 
Religion before her Acces- 
sion, 125 ; Claim to the 
Throne, 128 ; House of 
Lords answers her claim, 
128a; Status as Queen, 129; 
Attempts to restore Church 
Lands, 130; Orders for Ex- 
ecution of Bishop Hooper, 
131 ; Burning of Ridley and 
Latimer, 132. 

Mary Stuart and Elizabeth, 

139- 
Measures in Anglo-Saxon 

Period, 36. 
Mercia supreme in England, 

23- 

Millenary Petition, 151. 

Monasteries : Dissolution of, 
113; Confession with Sur- 
render of, 114; Directions 
for Visitation of, 113; Let- 
ters regarding Suppression 
of, 116; Mary attempts to 
restore Property of, 130. 

Money in Anglo-Saxon Period, 
36. 

Mortmain, Law of, 85; 88. 

Norman Rule in England, Ch. 
VII. ; Norman Conquest, 44. 



6o8 



SUBJECT INDEX 



North Briton, The, 201. 
Northumbria : begun, 23 ; wins 
supremacy, 23. 

Oaths Act, 215. 

Oaths of Allegiancy and Su- 
premacy replaced by new 
Oath, 189. 

Offa, King of the Mercians, 23. 

Ordeals, Hot Iron and Water, 
28. 

Ordinance, Secular of King 
Edgar, 36. 

Papal Authority i n England : 
acknowledge, 72, jt, ; de- 
nied, 112. 

Parliament : Form of Sum- 
mons to, 81, 183; Freedom 
of, 86; Privileges of, 138; 
Treatment of by James I., 
154; Disciplined by Oliver 
Cromwell, 168 ; thanks Gren- 
ville for bringing Declara- 
tion of Breda, 173; urges 
King's return, 174; Proroga- 
tion of the Anti-Reform P., 
219. 

Peel, Sir Robert, and the Corn 
Law, 224. 

People's Ranks and Law, 30. 

Peter's Pence : under the Sax- 
ons, 34; under the Danes, 

43- 

Petition, Millenary, 151 ; P. of 
Right, 155. 

Picts and Scots : ravage Bri- 
tain, 19; are driven from 
Britain, 20; relations with 
Anglo-Saxon invaders, 22. 

Pilgrimage of Grace : Sum- 
mons to, 117; Lancaster 
Herald's Description of, 118. 

Plague. (See Black Death.) 

Praemunire, Great Statute of, 

93- 
Presbyterian Position in Reign 

of Elizabeth, 135. 
Pretender, Young : Landing, 

196; Escape at Moy Hall, 

197 ; Atrocities after Cullo- 

den, 198; Bond given by Y. 

P., 193 ; Execution of the 

Rebel Lords, 200. 



Pretoria, Convention of, 234. 

Privileges of Parliament, 138; 
of Clergy. (See Constitu- 
tions of Clarendon.) 

Puritan Demands in Convoca- 
tion of 1563, 137. 

Queen Regnant, Status of, 129. 
Quia Emptores, 88. 

Ranks of the People in Anglo- 
Saxon Period, 30. 

Reform, Parliamentary, Ch. 
XXXL : Lord John Russell's 
Speech on the First Reform 
Bill, 218; Prorogation of 
the Anti-Reform Parliament, 
219; Passage of the First 
Reform Bill, 220. (See also 
Chartism, Corn-Law, Catho- 
lic and Jewish Emancipa- 
tion.) 

Restoration, Ch. XXHL 

Richard I. : First Coronation 
of, 64; Levying a Feudal 
Aid in time of, 65. 

Richard H. : Great Statute of 
Praemunire, 93. 

Ridley, Bishop Nicholas, 132. 

Right, Petition of, 155; Bill 
of, 189. 

Riots, The No-Popery, 209. 

Romans in Britain : Caesar, 14 ; 
Agricola, 18 ; Government of 
Britain by, 18; withdraw 
from Britain, 19. 

Rome (see also Hearth-penny. 
Peter's Pence, and Church) : 
England not a fief to, 50 ; 
not to interfere in English 
civil affairs, 66, 67 ; John 
surrenders England to Inno- 
cent HI., to take it back as 
fief of Rome, Ch. IX. ; Con- 
flict of R. with Henry VIII., 
Ch. XV. 

Royal Supremacy, Canons of, 

51- 
Runnymede, Magna Charta 

signed at, 79. 
Russell, Lord John, Speech on 

First Reform Bill, 218. 

Sacrament, Regulations con- 



SUBJECT INDEX 



609 



cerning that of the Lord's 

Supper, 122. (See also Six 

Articles, The.) 
Salisbury, Gemot of, 48. 
Sand-River Convention, 233. 
Saxons : invade Britain, 22 ; 

settlements, 22. 
Scotland united to England, 

193, I94-. 
Sects, Religious, in the time of 

Elizabeth, 134, 135, 136, 137. 
Senlac. (See Hastings, Battle 

of.) 
Separation of Ecclesiastical 

and Lay Jurisdictions, 52. 
Settlement, Act of, 190. 
Ship-Money : First Writ of ; 

156; declared illegal, 157, 
Six Articles, The, 119. 
Slave Trade, End of, 217. 
Stamford Bridge, Battle of, 44. 
Strafford and Charles L, 158, 

158a, 158b. 
Stuart Theory of Kingship, 

149, 150. 
Subinfeudation, 88. 
Submission of Clergy to Henry 

VHL, no. 
Summary of Grievances 

against Charles L, 159. 
Summons to Parliament, 175; 

183. 
Supremacy, Act of, in. (See 

also 112.) 
Sussex begun, 23. 

Tallagio non Concedendo, Dc, 

Teutonic Tribes. (See Ger- 
mans.) 

Thane, how man might be- 
come, 30. 

Throne of England held by 
Parliamentary Title, 188. 

Tin: in the Cassiterides, 12; 
in Britain, 14, 15. 

Tithes : under the Saxons, 2,2, ; 
under the Danes, 43. (See 
also Church.) 



Tithing, 41. 

Tostig, 44. 

Transvaal, England and the, 
Ch. XXXV. 

Treasons, First Statute of, 91. 

Tregonwell, John, Letter con- 
cerning suppression of Mon- 
asteries, 117b. 

Uniformity, Act of (1548), 

123. 
Union. (See Acts of Union.) 

Voyages: Hawkins', 144; 
Drake's, 145 ; Frobisher's, 
146; Barlowe's, 147. 

We dm ore. (See Chippen- 
ham.) 

Wellington, Duke of, on Catho- 
lic Emancipation, 213. 

Wer-gild, 29. (See wer in 2)^, 
and Ch. V. passim.) 

Wessex : begun, 23 ; supreme, 

23- 

Westminster, Council of, 59. 

Whitgift, Articles touching 
Preachers and other Orders 
for the Church, 136. 

Wilkes, John, 201. 

William the Conqueror : in- 
vades England, 44 ; Corona- 
tion Oath of, 45 ; Administra- 
tion of, 46 ; Character of, 47 ; 
Letter to Gregory VH., 50 ; 
Independence from Papal 
Rule, 51 ; Charter to London, 

53-. 
William of Orange : invited to 

come to England, 180; his 

Reign, Ch. XXHL, passim. 

William Rufas, Rule of, 54. 

Witan, 32. 

Wite, 33, 41. 

Woodstock, Council of, 58. 

Wycliffe : Wycliffite Conclu- 
sions, 96 ; Bull of Gregory 
XL against W., 97 ; Reply to 
Gregory IX., 98. 



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RUSSIA 

KRAUSSE'S RUSSIA IN ASIA, 1558-1899 

With appendix, index, and twelve maps. 8vo. $4.00. 

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as far things. His review of the present state of Russia's 
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THOMPSON'S RUSSIAN POLITICS 

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WALLACE'S RUSSIA 

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Contents include : In the Northern Forests ; Voluntary 
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GAUTIER'S A WINTER IN RUSSIA 

By Theophile Gautier. Translated by M. M. Ripley. 
i2mo. $1.75. 

Contents : Berlin ; Hamburg ; Schleswig ; Liibeck ; Cross- 
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BARROW^S THE FORTUNE OF WAR 

A novel of the Revolution. i2mo. $1.25. 

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RINGWALT'S AMERICAN ORATORY 

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